Hoosiers Fall To Rutgers, 66-58

Wednesday, January 30

Piscataway, NJ

7:00 PM

Indiana University

12-9, 3-7

Rutgers

11-9, 4-6

Indiana

Rutgers

1/30/2019 9:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)POSTGAME QUOTES Postgame Notes VIDEO: HIGHLIGHTS vs. Rutgers VIDEO: Juwan Morgan Highlights Photo Gallery

By: Pete DiPrimio, IUHoosiers.com

By: Pete DiPrimio, IUHoosiers.com

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - IUHoosiers.com

Cream 'n Crimson basketball pain continues..

Rutgers put a hurting on Indiana Wednesday night. The Hoosiers' seventh straight loss came by a 66-58 score.

Next up -- a Saturday trip to No. 6 Michigan State.

"You're looking at a group that's hurting," coach Archie Miller told Voice of the Hoosiers Don Fischer during his post-game radio show. "Believe me when I tell you, no one is hurting more than us, but we're the only ones who can fix it. That's not going anywhere."

IU fell to 12-9 overall, 3-7 in the Big Ten.

"We're at the halfway point of the conference," Miller told Fischer. "Sometimes it doesn't go as well early, but we have to take advantage of the back end."

Six of IU's final 10 regular season games are at Assembly Hall.

IU freshman guard Romeo Langford found his offense after several sub-par performances. He totaled 20 points and six rebounds.

"He played hard," Miller told Fischer. "He was very aggressive. He took advantage of some opportunities. He took open shots and made plays. He knows for the remainder of this year he's on a big stage in terms of what he has to do for us."

Sharing that stage is senior forward Juwan Morgan. He had 15 points and seven rebounds. Guard Al Durham added 11 points.

They were catalysts in a strong start that saw Indiana build leads as large as 10 points.

"We had some good possessions," Miller said. "Defensively the first 14 minutes of the game I thought we were really dialed in. That was as good as we've played in a little bit."

Then it disappeared. Foul trouble ripped away momentum. Rutgers took advantage with a 22-0 run to end the first half and start the second. Over a 12-minute stretch IU was outscored 27-3.

The Hoosiers never recovered.

"Foul trouble creeped in," Miller told Fischer. "They took advantage of that at the end of the first half and built some momentum.

"Give them credit. In the second half they made it very, very difficult for us to score around the basket. We were shot-challenged around the rim. We had some good ones that didn't go down. We had some break downs on defense.

"We hung in there a little bit. For the most part, we battled."

IU again faced manpower issues. A bad ankle continued to keep forward DeRon Davis out. Forwards Race Thomas and Jerome Hunter also didn't play because of injury. Guard Devonte Green was sidelined by suspension.

Guard Zach McRoberts, who wasn't expected to play because of a foot injury, did play, but only in a limited role.

Add foul trouble that forced Miller to go with a late-first-half lineup he'd never played before and a strong start faded to a cold finish.

"We had some odd lineups in there at times," Miller told Fischer.

Rutgers (11-9, 4-6) has battled past its struggling reputation with a three-game winning streak, including a road win. It has won its last two games against the Hoosiers after never having beaten IU before. Its big size advantage produced a 45-32 rebounding edge.

"They beat you up on the backboard," Miller told Fischer. "Rebounding was a problem. They were able to put fouls on us because of their offensive rebounding. When you're that big around the rim, there are going to be some fouls."

Early on, IU ruled. It ratcheted up the defense early, forcing eight Rutgers turnovers and building a 16-8 lead after eight minutes. Langford had eight of those points.

Even with growing foul trouble – Morgan, Justin Smith and Jake Forrester each picked up two fouls – the Hoosiers built that 10-point lead. Then Langford and forward Cliff Moore got their second fouls, and Miller was forced to go with that "odd lineup." The Scarlet Knights took advantage to end the half on a 9-0 run, helped by IU committing turnovers in each of its last four possessions.

The Hoosiers led just 29-28 at halftime.

Rutgers scored the first five points of the second half to take a 33-28 lead, forcing Miller to call a timeout.

It didn't help.

The Scarlet Knight's run reached 22-0 before Langford hit a three-pointer.

Rutgers kept attacking and pushed ahead by 14 points with 12 minutes left.

IU pushed back to cut the lead to seven with six minutes left. It was within five with two minutes to go.

It wasn't enough.

"They put us in foul trouble," Miller told Fischer. "That's something that will be a part of what we're doing, on Saturday (against Michigan State) and then we play Iowa. You name it, with the size on the glass, we have to continue to find a way to (rebound) as a group."