Hoosiers face first true adversity - News Sentinel

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Indiana Hoosiers trudged with bowed heads through Ohio State's Value City Arena hallways, faces grim, prospects uncertain.

Four days ago they were a surging top-10 team with visions of Big Ten contention.

Today, they're a reeling squad hoping to regain momentum Wednesday at Nebraska.

Welcome to the consequences of Sunday's 80-63 loss at Ohio State and a two-game losing streak that has exposed defensive flaws and offensive vulnerabilities reminiscent of Big Ten misery gone by.

“Yeah, this is adversity,” guard Jordan Hulls said. “We'll take it one game at a time. We'll get back home, look at the film and see what's making us lose. We'll get better from that. We'll get on one-game win streaks like we did before.”

Value City Arena brings out the worst in opponents. Ohio State has won 33 straight home games and 51 of its last 52. The Hoosiers have lost four straight games there by an average margin of 21 points.

But that's not nearly as crucial as the two games they've lost in the last four days that dropped them to 15-3 overall, 3-3 in the Big Ten. Coach Tom Crean spent an hour after the game talking to his players in the locker room. It wasn't in anger, he insisted -- that might come after he watched the game film -- but in instruction about what has to change.

What will it take for IU to return to regain the form that allowed it to beat Kentucky and Ohio State?

“We have to do what we did when we were winning,” Hulls said. “We have to take it one game at a time.

“It's been a rough week, but we had a good eight weeks. We've got to take that into account. Just get back to the basics and what got us the victories. Get back to a defensive mindset and creating our offense that way. Be more vocal.

“It's something we need to crack down on. It's part of getting back to what we were doing in the beginning of the year. We've got to lock up on defense.”

Defense has become a liability, much as it was the previous three Big Ten seasons. Indiana entered the game with the Big Ten's worst field goal percentage defense at 48.4 percent. Ohio State shot 54.4 percent, including 60.7 percent in the second half.

What's going on?

“We've got to get back to doing what we'd been doing,” forward Christian Watford said. “The last week or two we haven't been good defensively. We have to get back to the basics. We'll work on that when we get back to Bloomington. We'll get that handled.”

IU never got a handle on Ohio State guard Lenzelle Smith, who entered the game as an offensive after-thought. He left it as a Hoosier-beating catalyst. He had 12 points in the game's first 11 minutes, more than twice his season average of 5.2 and matching the career high he had at Indiana on Dec.31. He finished with a game-high 28 points.

The reason -- IU chose to back off him to double team All-American forward Jared Sullinger.

“Smith went above and beyond what he usually does,” Crean said. “He averages two field goals made and 4 field goals attempted. Today he was 10-of-12. He was a huge difference in the game.”

The No. 5 Buckeyes wanted a big difference after their 74-70 loss at Assembly Hall on Dec.31. They got it in a big way, building leads as large as 26 points.

“This is exactly what we wanted,” Sullinger said. He added 16 points and nine rebounds. Deshaun Thomas, the former Bishop Luers standout, had 11 points and three rebounds.

“We gave those guys (IU) 17 layups the last time we played,” Sullinger said. “We decided, not today.”

Ohio State attacked with defense, pushing Hoosier guards out three feet than they normally start their offense. The result was 27.3 percent first-half shooting and a 35-14 halftime deficit. IU's 14 was its fewest points at halftime of the season, 12 fewer than they scored against Notre Dame.

“It was frustrating,” Hulls said. “They did a good job of pushing us out. We can't let that happen. We have to do a better job of executing. Those three feet might not seem like much, but it really is when you're trying to get the offense started.”

Forward Cody Zeller led IU with 16 points and six rebounds.

The last week has ripped the accuracy from IU's three-point shooting prowess. It started as the nation's most accurate perimeter team at nearly a 50-percent clip. But the Hoosiers are 11-for-39 in their last two games, including 7-for-21 against Ohio State.

“We had open looks,” Hulls said, “but we weren't able to hit them.”

IU needed a fast start in a hostile environment. Instead, it got five quick turnovers, gave up four offensive rebounds and fell into an 11-point hole in the first seven minutes.

The Hoosiers never recovered.

“The game came down to our lack of response to the physicality of the game,” Crean said. “Once they got up on us, we got a little bit of that deer-in-the-headlight-look going, especially on the offensive end.

“The better the competition, the harder it gets. We did not always respond to that on both ends.”