Lack of composure and leadership sinks Indiana at Rutgers
Trey Galloway went to the center court logo after missing a late game three and yelled in frustration. Hoosier teammate Kel’el Ware approached him, offering a high-five and then shrugged.
In the sixteenth game of the season, a 66-57 loss at Rutgers, Indiana, still looks like a team welcoming 10 new faces to the program.
The Hoosiers were sunk by an ejection, sulky body language and a lack of composure for their second conference loss of the season.
After Rutgers’ Antwone Woolfolk was called for an offensive foul, up three with a little over 13 minutes left to play, the officials were headed to the monitor to look at what looked like a game-changing flagrant foul.
It was, but not on Woolfolk.
When looking at the play further, the officials gave Indiana sixth-year-senior point guard Xavier Johnson a flagrant two — ejecting him for hitting Woolfolk below the belt as he fought through a screen. Johnson finished with two points, two assists and five turnovers.
Indiana was also firing blanks from the perimeter. Galloway rose for an open 3-point attempt in front of his bench with 10:21 to go in the second half and missed everything. Subsequently, IU head coach Mike Woodson, standing behind his senior guard, scratched his head.
The Hoosiers air-balled three open 3-pointers in the second half. Mackenzie Mgbako also bricked an open shot off the backboard.
Indiana shot 7-of-26 from deep and an abysmal 4-of-15 from the free throw line. It’s unlikely to win on the road with those numbers, but Indiana showed a lack of control and composure as the cream and crimson turned it over 18 times and allowed 19 offensive rebounds.
“When I look at the stat line, we were just awful, 11 free throws we missed, we missed a lot of wide-open 3s,” Woodson told Don Fischer on his postgame radio show. “So with the turnovers, the offensive rebounds, I’m surprised we were even that close.”
Somehow, Indiana had a slight chance to come out with an ugly win towards the end, but the little things kept Indiana out of reach.
Instead of making a play on the ball in transition in the first half, Johnson stood around the restricted area and tried to take charge. Rutgers’ Derek Simpson stepped around him for the easy, untouched layup.
It’s little plays like that, where in the grand scheme of the game, it may seem small, but they add up.
Down six with less than two minutes to go, IU freshman Mackenzie Mgabko picked up an intentional foul after his man went past him into the lane. Mgbako grabbed him by the hips as he chased him from behind. It all but sealed the game.
Indiana lacks a steady presence, someone who can right the ship and calm the storm when things aren’t going well or are spiraling out of control.
“I expect our seniors, (Anthony) Walker, ‘X’, and Gallo,” Woodson said postgame. “Those three guys are seniors. They gotta help lead. And the road is different than playing at home; there’s no doubt about that.”
Without a significant leadership presence on the floor, Indiana had a tough time gelling. Turnovers have plagued Indiana on the road this season. The Hoosiers gave the ball away 19 times last week at Nebraska.
This early January rough patch echoes one the Hoosiers had around a similar time last year when Indiana had lost three in a row — including a 19-point loss at Penn State. But, unlike last season, this new roster doesn’t have someone to go to when the going gets tough like Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson — two stable players who were voices of security on and off the floor.
Indiana hasn’t found someone who can step up as a leader and have a steady presence on the road, and until they do, results like this will keep coming.
Rutgers came into the contest winless in the Big Ten and it looked like a good opportunity for Indiana to grab a conference road win and move to a 4-1 record in the league. Instead, Indiana leaves New Jersey searching for answers.
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
Filed to: Rutgers Scarlet Knights