Indiana Falls at Minnesota, 84-63

Saturday, February 16

Minneapolis, MN

2:00 PM

Indiana University

13-12, 4-10

Minnesota

17-9, 8-6

Indiana

Minnesota

2/16/2019 4:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Pete DiPrimio, IUHoosiers.com

By: Pete DiPrimio, IUHoosiers.com

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Archie Miller coached from a knee.

He had just seen Minnesota hit its 12th three-point of the game. A blow-out loss was winding down and answers remained as elusive as a rainbow's pot of gold.

A timeout came, the deficit swelled to 30 points, and what was left to say.

Nothing that could stop the inevitable.

On Saturday afternoon, Williams Arena, also known as The Barn, morphed into a Hoosier house of horrors. The final score, 84-63.

"It was a really disappointing performance," Miller told Voice of the Hoosiers Don Fischer in the post-game radio show. "I could go across the board in a lot of areas.

"The bottom line was the tougher team, a team that was much hungrier and more prepared to play, came out on top. Minnesota played harder from the very beginning."

Once again, IU (13-12 overall, 4-10 in the Big Ten) started poorly, battled back briefly, fell hard.

That's losses in 10 of the last 11 games.

A season once rich with promise continued disintegrating into misery. In the aftermath, Miller talked about making "drastic changes."

Those could surface Tuesday when the Hoosiers host rival Purdue.

The good news -- IU's grueling closing schedule (No. 12 Purdue, No. 21 Iowa, No. 20 Wisconsin and No. 11 Michigan State), then Illinois and Rutgers, plus the Big Ten tourney, provides plenty of opportunities to make a big NCAA Tourney selection committee impression.

But the Hoosiers have to win.

"It's all attitude related," Miller told Fischer. "It's not getting down on each other. It's attitude related as far as our work ethic, as far as our coachability. The guys have to understand that this time of year it's hard to win one game. Teams won't give you anything. The only way to get out of it is together. We have to find a way to keep plugging along."

More good news -- forward DeRon Davis has returned from an ankle injury as the second free-throw-shooting coming of, say, Christian Watford, give or take. He's 10-for-13 from the line in his last four games. He was 4-for-5 on Saturday for 10 points in 18 minutes.

Forward Juwan Morgan added 14 points and eight rebounds. Al Durham had 12 points. Romeo Langford had 10 points.

Best news -- freshman forward Race Thompson, slowly recovering from a severe concussion, played in just his second career game and his first since the season opener in November. The Minneapolis native finished with two points and five rebounds in seven minutes.

"Race had an opportunity to get home," Miller told Fischer. "I knew the game would be physical with fouls. As he played, he did a nice job."

IU and Minnesota (17-9, 7-8) arrived on the bubble of NCAA tourney projections. Both faced must-win pressure.

Only one delivered.

"The 50-50 balls that went their way turned into baskets," Miller told Fischer. "It was still a workable margin at halftime. At the start of the second half, it was not a dialed-in group and it got away from us."

Offensive efficiency also remained elusive. IU shot just 38 percent from the field and produced nine assists against 12 turnovers. It has scored more than 70 points just three times in its last 11 games.

"A lot of it comes down to reading and making the correct plays," Miller told Fischer. "We probably had four to five plays that, if the ball is thrown back or moved one more time, it goes well.

"We just over-dribble at times. The ball gets a little sticky. That's why we struggle so much, the ball doesn't move as freely or the read isn't there."

Defensively IU never contained the Gophers' Jordan Murphy (23 points, 11 rebounds) and Gabe Kalscheur (20 points, 6-for-8 three-point shooting). Minnesota was 12-for-22 from three-point range, one more three-pointer than it had in its previous two games combined.

"Their team shared the ball; they played in transition," Miller told Fischer. "In terms of getting back, we weren't urgent enough. They made shots out of the post. Their offense ran seamlessly. We gave them very little resistance."

The basketball gods continued to favor IU opponents. Minnesota's Daniel Oturu, who hadn't attempted a three-pointer all season, hit one to beat the shot clock early in the first half. Then Amir Coffee and Kalscheur banked in three-pointers.

That followed three-point heartbreakers by Iowa's Jordan Bohannon and Ohio State's C.J. Walker in the previous two games.

The Gophers pushed ahead 21-11, then 27-14.

IU's defense briefly turned nasty, holding Minnesota scoreless for seven minutes. Morgan got hot, Devonte Green hit a three-pointer and the Hoosiers closed within five points at 30-25.

Opportunity was there.

Then it wasn't.

Murphy scored five straight points to restore the Gophers' double-digit lead.

Hoosier foul trouble mounted. Minnesota reached halftime with a 42-30 lead, then scored the first five points of the second half.

The Hoosiers were finished.

"We have to keep working to get better," Miller told Fischer. "The only thing we're worried about is our team, our mental makeup. We know what Tuesday means when we play Purdue."