As IU coach Archie Miller walked up to the podium for his postgame press conference, he set down a crumpled stat sheet to his right. He then proceeded to call his team soft and scared after a 69-46 loss to the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines.
[embed]https://twitter.com/TheHoosierNet/status/1089001654681300992[/embed]
It was, yet again, another disappointing night for the Hoosiers at Assembly Hall. Having the No. 5 team in the country score the first 17 points of the game didn’t help matters, especially when Assembly Hall was in full throat. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong for Indiana.
The 46 points from Indiana was the lowest output by the Hoosiers since they scored that amount on February 25, 2010 at Wisconsin. The six game losing streak also equals Indiana’s longest since the 2010-2011 season when IU lost its last nine games.
“The fight isn't there right now, and the confidence isn't there on either end of the floor to be able to capitalize on any type of opportunity that we have, to be honest with you,” Miller said. “There's nothing we're doing well.”
"When you can't make shots the game is hard."
Indiana finished 27.6 percent from the floor, 15 percent from beyond the arc and 55 percent from the free throw line in their loss to Michigan. #iubb pic.twitter.com/xFwsLC9tBE
— The Hoosier Network (@TheHoosierNet) January 26, 2019
Just seven seconds in the game, the referees stopped play for a good five minutes due to the south shot clock not functioning properly. That was just the beginning of the dysfunction for the Hoosiers. Then it ended up taking Indiana 9:45 to score its first field goal, an Al Durham runner off glass.
But that was just the start. Indiana proceeded to shoot 3-of-20 from behind the arc, continuing a stretch of abysmal shooting from behind the arc. Indiana has shot just 25.2 percent from behind the 3-point line in Big Ten play and just 17.3 percent in the last four games. It all amounted to a 28 percent shooting performance overall.
“When you can't make shots, the game is hard,” Miller said. “And that's been a common theme here in the last two to three weeks, just being able to hit an open one, being able to get a couple guys to be able to make a couple, step up, make the open lay-up, finish on a two-on-one. We're just not capitalizing on offense just in terms of being able to make the perimeter shot, and we have better shooters than we shot tonight. I'd be hard pressed to see if you could shoot worse than that, to be honest with you.”
"Our team in general right now is soft."
Archie Miller was disappointed in his team's efforts to say the least. Miller is searching for any sort of answer after their sixth-straight loss. #iubb pic.twitter.com/rWIHko1ko2
— The Hoosier Network (@TheHoosierNet) January 26, 2019
IU forward Juwan Morgan ended with a double-double, yet still called the whole debacle embarrassing. Morgan’s 16 points and 12 rebounds led Indiana once again. Freshman Romeo Langford was mostly a non-factor as he scored just nine points and was minus-24 on the night, the second worse plus-minus for the Hoosiers. Outside of Morgan, the Hoosiers were 10-of-46 and contributed just 30 points.
Morgan also was forced to play 36 minutes, and Miller mentioned that it is hard to take him off the floor when they are down by so much and playing catch up.
“I'll never, ever give up on my brothers out there,” Morgan said. “I'll give everything I have until I drop. That's just who I am, and I feel like they'd do the same thing for me.”
"I would say it's embarrassing."
Indiana mustered just 46 points and shot 27.6 percent from the floor. Juwan Morgan was "embarrassed" by IU's performance tonight. #iubb pic.twitter.com/oz3zdhHBp8
— The Hoosier Network (@TheHoosierNet) January 26, 2019
After a sixth straight loss and a second straight home loss, the Hoosiers will look to regroup once again. Morgan mentioned after the game that the goal is still the same as it was in October, and that is to make the NCAA Tournament.
Indiana may have made it a bit tougher on itself, but the next chance it will get to end this losing streak is Wednesday at Rutgers.
“You know, in my mind I don't think any team is 23 points better than us,” Morgan said. “I think we have a lot more fight in us than that. I think there's a lot of talent in that room. I'm angry about it. I know every guy in that room is. I saw the looks on their faces. I know how to read the room. Nobody is happy about that. Everybody is embarrassed.”
