BLOOMINGTON — Throughout December, IU men’s basketball has had trouble playing complete games.
The Hoosiers have endured slow starts, notably falling behind Louisville 16-0 in the first six minutes. That was an issue dating back to preseason games, as the team stumbled early in its exhibition game against Baylor.
And Indiana has now struggled in the second half for three straight games. The Hoosiers fell apart in the second half at Kentucky, and then got outscored after halftime in wins over Chicago State and Siena.
IU dominated the first half against the Saints Monday, in an 81-60 victory at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. But getting outscored 40-35 in the second half was just the latest example of a growing concern for this group.
“I thought the second half we just lost a little bit of our edge both ends of the floor,” head coach Darian DeVries said after the game. “First half, when we were getting stops, it allowed us to get out in transition, allowed us to get our shooters free. Second half we weren’t quite as stingy defensively and we’re taking the ball out of the net a lot more, and the game really just slowed down at that point.”
Indiana (10-3) played mostly better in Monday’s second half than it did against Chicago State, but that’s a low bar to set. Against one of the worst teams in Division I on Saturday, the Hoosiers shot 8 for 30 from the field and 1 for 20 from 3-point range in the second half. As a team, they had seven assists and eight turnovers in that half, as Chicago State outscored them 29-26.
Siena (9-4) trailed by 23 points after the first half on Monday, and closed the gap to as little as 15 points around 8 ½ minutes into the second period. IU shot 9 for 24 from the field and 2 for 8 from beyond the arc in the second half. DeVries’ team finished the half with just two turnovers and eight assists, though.
“That game was just a choppy game,” DeVries said. “A lot of fouls, a lot of dead ball situations and things, so we never really had any flow in that second half. But after a little lull there, I thought we were able to get it pushed back out.”
Point guard Tayton Conerway helped IU turn things around. He was the team’s lone bright spot after halftime Monday, with 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting.
Often, the Hoosiers need someone like Conerway to step up when things aren’t going well. Opponents are keying in on Lamar Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries, and that’s unlikely to stop anytime soon. If that duo is facing increased defensive attention and has trouble getting anything going, it falls on tertiary scoring options like Conerway, Reed Bailey, and Nick Dorn to pick up the slack.
IU has been able to get away with sloppy second halves against non-conference opponents like Chicago State and Siena. But after a nearly two-week break, the Hoosiers will pick up the main Big Ten slate. Everything comes tougher in conference play, and if they repeat these second-half performances, they could get burned again — like they did against Kentucky.
“Just trying to weather the storm. We know, whenever we come back out there and we’re up 20, we know this team is going to come out and try to punch us first. Trying to weather that first little four or five-minute storm,” Conerway said. “If we can’t punch them in the mouth first, we’ve got to definitely rebound the ball and lock into the little details whenever we come out of that second half.”
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