Indiana University Athletics
GRAHAM: Hoosiers Tries To Get Out of Rut at Rutgers
1/30/2019 2:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Andy Graham, IUHoosiers.com
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - In a rut.
And at Rutgers.
That's where Indiana's Hoosiers find themselves heading into Wednesday's 7 p.m. tipoff.
IU has lost six straight. The host Scarlet Knights are coming in off a road win at Penn State, which followed a home win over Nebraska.
And Indiana is perhaps coming in angry, if the emotions senior forward Juwan Morgan perceived following last Friday's 69-46 flop at home against Michigan carry over.
"I would say it's embarrassing," Morgan said post-Michigan. "You know, in my mind I don't think any team is 23 points better than us. 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."
Coach Archie Miller, after watching his Hoosiers shoot a pathetic .276 from the field against the Wolverines, also didn't mince words afterward.
"Our team, in general, right now is soft," Miller said, "and we're also, for whatever reason, right now, scared. And you can just tell by the way that we played.
"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. There's nothing we're doing well."
The Hoosiers certainly aren't shooting well, and just changing that might help bolster spirits.
Indiana (12-8, overall, 3-6 Big Ten) hasn't shot over .500 from the field since before Christmas. The Hoosiers have shot over .400 just once in their last four games, at .431 in a 15-point loss at Purdue.
After hitting over 60 percent of their 2-point shots through 14 games, the Hoosiers have fallen off to .468 in that category during the current losing streak, but it's the 3-point shooting that has really cratered.
IU has hit just 25 of 106 shots (.236) from 3-point range over its last six games, with the nadir a 3 of 20 showing (.150) Friday.
The visiting Wolverines scored the game's first 17 points. And Indiana didn't have a field goal till half the first half had elapsed.
"It's just an inept offensive (play)," Miller said. "Inept. I mean, you can't get down 20-2 at home against Michigan or anybody for that matter … it's not good.
"Our lack of shooting – when you can't make shots, the game is hard. And that's been a common theme here in the last two to three weeks, just not 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."
The Hoosiers might take some solace that their season-long shooting percentages (.486 from the field, .323 on 3-pointers, .650 free throws) are still better than the Scarlet Knights' corresponding .405, .313, .638 – but the Rutgers shooting is trending up while IU's is headed the opposite direction.
Eugene Omoruyi, a 6-foot-7, 240-pound junior, leads Rutgers in both scoring (13.9) and rebounding (7.2) and is healthy again after dislocating his left kneecap in the Jan. 9 homecourt win over Ohio State.
Geo Baker, a 6-4 sophomore, averages 13.5 points. He leads the team in assists (77) and steals (30) and is often catalytic to Scarlet Knight runs.
Montez Mathis, a 6-4 freshman and an energy guy, averages 8.6 points and 6-5 soph Peter Kiss averages 7.7. The other starter is 7-0, 270-pound grad student Shaquille Doorson, who shoots .628 from the field and has blocked 21 shots.
Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said his team is seeing its younger players develop. And that Omoyuri's return – and maybe Omoyuri calling a players-only meeting following Jan. 18 homecourt loss to Northwestern – helped fuel the last two wins.
"Getting Gene back, certainly (helps)," Pikiell said. "When you lose your leading scorer, leading rebounder and leading charge guy in the conference, that certainly changes some things.
"I just like our approach. We're practicing better. I think our young guys are getting more consistent … a lot of it starts with Geo, and having Gene back … I like our lineup. I like our rotation."
Asked about Indiana's recent struggles, Pikiell replied:
"I don't know. I only coach my team. I only know (Miller) is a great coach and he has good players.
It's a product of playing in a really good league. I was watching games the other day. Iowa is ranked. I know how good Minnesota is. I know how good Maryland is. It's a good league. Every night."
Pikiell praised IU's overall athleticism, cited Hoosier scoring leaders Romeo Langford (17.2) and Juwan Morgan (16.5), and added: "They present match-up problems for us. Morgan, Langford, they've got a lot of good players.
"So it's going to be a war. I really hope the (Rutgers Athletic Center) is jumping. Students. Greek Life. The Riot Squad. We need this atmosphere to be great here, and it's been great – our fans have come out and done a great job. We want to make this a tough place to play."
Rutgers (10-9, 3-6 Big Ten) is 8-4 at its Athletic Center and has fallen just twice there since November.
To make it thrice, the Hoosiers need to come out much more purposefully and confidently than they did last Friday.
"We've got some guys right now in a rut, physically, mentally, the whole deal, and we've got to keep working just to get out of it," Miller said. "I think at the end of the day, a couple shots go in, you feel a little bit better and it opens up the game. But definitely the perimeter shot is playing a big role in what we're doing right now.
"At the end of the day, certain guys are going to step up to the plate and they're going to get better, and that's our job is to make them better. One guy gets a little bit better, it really helps the cause. It helps the camaraderie. You get a couple guys playing a little bit better and a couple guys making an easy shot. When you're open, that lets the air kind of out of the building when you miss it.
"We've really, really changed the face of who we are in the course of the season. We're not the same team. And it starts with our effort level, our attitude, how hard we play, and then that streams into everything else that you do … very disappointed. Obviously take full responsibility for it. We've got to put our big boy pants on here and start showing up."
No word on whether or not Indiana has had any players-only meetings in the midst of its losing streak, as with Omoruyi in the wake of a three-game Rutgers skid, but Morgan maintained Friday that the Hoosiers haven't given up on each other.
"Like I said at the beginning of the season, we're looking for a postseason this year," Morgan said. "We're not really looking for anything else. We're not selling ourselves short.
"I know there's a talented group in that locker room. I'm still -- I'm not giving up on any of the guys, they're not giving up on me, and that's what it is."
And just getting a win might start changing the whole tone of Hoosier conversations.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - In a rut.
And at Rutgers.
That's where Indiana's Hoosiers find themselves heading into Wednesday's 7 p.m. tipoff.
IU has lost six straight. The host Scarlet Knights are coming in off a road win at Penn State, which followed a home win over Nebraska.
And Indiana is perhaps coming in angry, if the emotions senior forward Juwan Morgan perceived following last Friday's 69-46 flop at home against Michigan carry over.
"I would say it's embarrassing," Morgan said post-Michigan. "You know, in my mind I don't think any team is 23 points better than us. 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."
Coach Archie Miller, after watching his Hoosiers shoot a pathetic .276 from the field against the Wolverines, also didn't mince words afterward.
"Our team, in general, right now is soft," Miller said, "and we're also, for whatever reason, right now, scared. And you can just tell by the way that we played.
"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. There's nothing we're doing well."
The Hoosiers certainly aren't shooting well, and just changing that might help bolster spirits.
Indiana (12-8, overall, 3-6 Big Ten) hasn't shot over .500 from the field since before Christmas. The Hoosiers have shot over .400 just once in their last four games, at .431 in a 15-point loss at Purdue.
After hitting over 60 percent of their 2-point shots through 14 games, the Hoosiers have fallen off to .468 in that category during the current losing streak, but it's the 3-point shooting that has really cratered.
IU has hit just 25 of 106 shots (.236) from 3-point range over its last six games, with the nadir a 3 of 20 showing (.150) Friday.
The visiting Wolverines scored the game's first 17 points. And Indiana didn't have a field goal till half the first half had elapsed.
"It's just an inept offensive (play)," Miller said. "Inept. I mean, you can't get down 20-2 at home against Michigan or anybody for that matter … it's not good.
"Our lack of shooting – when you can't make shots, the game is hard. And that's been a common theme here in the last two to three weeks, just not 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."
The Hoosiers might take some solace that their season-long shooting percentages (.486 from the field, .323 on 3-pointers, .650 free throws) are still better than the Scarlet Knights' corresponding .405, .313, .638 – but the Rutgers shooting is trending up while IU's is headed the opposite direction.
Eugene Omoruyi, a 6-foot-7, 240-pound junior, leads Rutgers in both scoring (13.9) and rebounding (7.2) and is healthy again after dislocating his left kneecap in the Jan. 9 homecourt win over Ohio State.
Geo Baker, a 6-4 sophomore, averages 13.5 points. He leads the team in assists (77) and steals (30) and is often catalytic to Scarlet Knight runs.
Montez Mathis, a 6-4 freshman and an energy guy, averages 8.6 points and 6-5 soph Peter Kiss averages 7.7. The other starter is 7-0, 270-pound grad student Shaquille Doorson, who shoots .628 from the field and has blocked 21 shots.
Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said his team is seeing its younger players develop. And that Omoyuri's return – and maybe Omoyuri calling a players-only meeting following Jan. 18 homecourt loss to Northwestern – helped fuel the last two wins.
"Getting Gene back, certainly (helps)," Pikiell said. "When you lose your leading scorer, leading rebounder and leading charge guy in the conference, that certainly changes some things.
"I just like our approach. We're practicing better. I think our young guys are getting more consistent … a lot of it starts with Geo, and having Gene back … I like our lineup. I like our rotation."
Asked about Indiana's recent struggles, Pikiell replied:
"I don't know. I only coach my team. I only know (Miller) is a great coach and he has good players.
It's a product of playing in a really good league. I was watching games the other day. Iowa is ranked. I know how good Minnesota is. I know how good Maryland is. It's a good league. Every night."
Pikiell praised IU's overall athleticism, cited Hoosier scoring leaders Romeo Langford (17.2) and Juwan Morgan (16.5), and added: "They present match-up problems for us. Morgan, Langford, they've got a lot of good players.
"So it's going to be a war. I really hope the (Rutgers Athletic Center) is jumping. Students. Greek Life. The Riot Squad. We need this atmosphere to be great here, and it's been great – our fans have come out and done a great job. We want to make this a tough place to play."
Rutgers (10-9, 3-6 Big Ten) is 8-4 at its Athletic Center and has fallen just twice there since November.
To make it thrice, the Hoosiers need to come out much more purposefully and confidently than they did last Friday.
"We've got some guys right now in a rut, physically, mentally, the whole deal, and we've got to keep working just to get out of it," Miller said. "I think at the end of the day, a couple shots go in, you feel a little bit better and it opens up the game. But definitely the perimeter shot is playing a big role in what we're doing right now.
"At the end of the day, certain guys are going to step up to the plate and they're going to get better, and that's our job is to make them better. One guy gets a little bit better, it really helps the cause. It helps the camaraderie. You get a couple guys playing a little bit better and a couple guys making an easy shot. When you're open, that lets the air kind of out of the building when you miss it.
"We've really, really changed the face of who we are in the course of the season. We're not the same team. And it starts with our effort level, our attitude, how hard we play, and then that streams into everything else that you do … very disappointed. Obviously take full responsibility for it. We've got to put our big boy pants on here and start showing up."
No word on whether or not Indiana has had any players-only meetings in the midst of its losing streak, as with Omoruyi in the wake of a three-game Rutgers skid, but Morgan maintained Friday that the Hoosiers haven't given up on each other.
"Like I said at the beginning of the season, we're looking for a postseason this year," Morgan said. "We're not really looking for anything else. We're not selling ourselves short.
"I know there's a talented group in that locker room. I'm still -- I'm not giving up on any of the guys, they're not giving up on me, and that's what it is."
And just getting a win might start changing the whole tone of Hoosier conversations.
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