Final Score:
Ohio State:   80
Indiana:        63

The Hoosiers would have surprised a lot of people if they would have gone into Columbus and came out with a win. Well I guess you could call their performance “surprising.” Then again it’s not. Teams routinely walk onto the Value Center Arena and come away with their heads dropped and their bodies all sorts of beaten up. Just ask Duke.

So was losing to Ohio State this badly, surprising? No. Was it disappointing the way Indiana played? I thought so, and I’m sure many other fans thought so too. Two weeks ago this team beat that same Buckeye squad. Crazy what can change in two weeks. That team didn’t even have Will Sheehey. We are 0-2 since Will’s return, so I blame him (sarcasm).

You really can’t blame one guy for these last two losses. In my post-game write-up for Penn State I highlighted that one of the most dangerous parts about this team is that you never know who can step up in a game. All of sudden, that has turned on me the last two games and the opposite is happening. Now you don’t know who, for the Hoosiers, are going to have an off night. Against Minnesota it was Verdell and Watford. Today, I thought Hulls, Oladipo, and again, Verdell just weren’t ready for this angry Ohio State team.

Zeller looked like the only one in the first half to even try to assert himself offensively. I know Zeller is very soft-spoken and mature for his age, but if I am him, at some point I am yelling at my perimeter guys to “GIVE ME THE BALL!” This Indiana team struggles feeding the post almost every game even though that seems somewhat fundamental to me.

I think getting the ball to Cody could seriously fix all our offensive problems. If Cody is fed the rock either: A) He scores. B) He gets fouled. C) Both A and B. D) He misses or gets his shot blocked. E) He gets doubled and passes out of it to the open man which sets up the drive and kick. F) He turns it over.

Well “F” rarely happens. “D” happens but only like 35% of the time. All the other options will result in a good offensive possession. Now it would be dumb if we gave it to Cody every possession but he needs more touches before I pull all the hair off my body I have left.

I talked on all our defensive issues last game so I will leave them alone for now. The fact of the matter is IU has played lousy for two games in a row after winning 15 of their first 16 games. This team is still a top team in country, in my opinion, but their backs are up against the wall so far in conference and only time will tell how this year will end up.

Team Grade: F

Looking Forward- Finally, the Hoosiers can take a semi-breath as their next two games are Nebraska on Wednesday (Away) and Penn State (Home) next Sunday. Two winnable games by far but with the way this college basketball season is going, anything that can happen… probably will.