Feeling confident after a strong win against Butler in the Crossroads Classic, the Hoosiers began their Big Ten gauntlet on Wednesday afternoon with a showdown against Northwestern. The Wildcats, who have not won at Assembly Hall since the 2014 season, rode a high wave into Bloomington after their thrilling victory over No. 4 Michigan State.
When Indiana had defensive challenges, they buckled down and improved. Each time they filled one hole, another crept up. When Indiana had offensive challenges, they played more actively and drove in to the center of the zone for open perimeter shots. Again, the defense seemed to fall apart again.
“For the first time all season, probably in 8 games, our defense did not do the job for us tonight,” said Indiana head coach Archie Miller.
Trayce Jackson-Davis, who scored a game high 22 points, pointed out after the game the gaps in Indiana’s performance.
As one of the leaders of the team, Jackson-Davis also took responsibility for his own play at the beginning of the game, “Yeah, obviously it is really tough to play with no fans, but I think still the bench was a big role, they were still amping us up a little bit. At the same time, I thought that I came out sluggish and I was getting frustrated. I let me emotions get the best of me early in the game.”
The Hoosiers got into a 15-point deficit, but slowly clawed back into the game, and they were down just by single digits as both teams entered the locker rooms for halftime.
“Second half, started the second half much, much better… and got ourselves right back in contention to play to win the game, and have a lead,” Miller said after the game.
Despite making adjustments, erasing the deficit and taking the lead, the Hoosiers were unable to sustain that lead.
