Quick thoughts on a 76-72 loss to Northwestern:
How it happened
With a full week off to prepare for Sunday’s game against Northwestern, Indiana came out with a soft, uninspired first half against the Wildcats. Even with Boo Buie on the bench for 12 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, the Wildcats led by as many as 11 before settling for a 34-26 halftime cushion. Indiana’s offense in the first 20 minutes was tough to watch. The Hoosiers turned it over eight times, shot 2-for-8 on 3s and 2-for-5 from the free throw line. Besides a solid first half by Kel’el Ware – 10 points and five rebounds – the Hoosiers had nothing going offensively in the opening 20 minutes against a depleted Northwestern squad, which is also without Ty Berry.
Indiana was much better to start the second half, scoring the first seven points to get within one by the 17:57 mark. By the first media timeout, Northwestern led the Hoosiers 40-35. After Indiana got within one at 43-42 on a putback by Malik Reneau, Northwestern responded with a quick 5-1 spurt to make it 48-43 at the under-12 media timeout. A Ryan Langborg 3-pointer stretched the Northwestern lead to 51-45 and back-to-back buckets from Matt Nicholson made it 55-45 Northwestern with 9:55 to go, forcing Mike Woodson to call a timeout. Boo Buie’s first field goal of the afternoon, a 3-pointer, stretched the Wildcat lead to 58-47 with 8:35 to play. Another Buie 3-pointer stretched the Northwestern lead to 61-47 with 6:43 left. After Northwestern led 63-47 with 6:17 remaining, the Hoosiers reeled off an 11-0 run to make it 63-58 with 2:51 to play. A pair of Brooks Barnhizer free throws ended the IU run and Northwestern stretched the lead back to nine at the 1:36 mark. The Hoosiers fouled over the final 90 seconds, but could get no closer than three and fell to 14-11 overall and 6-8 in Big Ten play.
Standout performer
Ware finished with 22 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots in 36 minutes. Mackenzie Mgbako had 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting in 35 minutes.
Statistics that stand out
Indiana shot 12-for-21 (57.1 percent) from the free throw line and 6-for-18 (33.3 percent) on 3s. The Hoosiers were outscored by 10 points from the free throw line. Northwestern attempted 12 more field goals than the Hoosiers and rebounded 31 percent of its missed shots. The Wildcats also outscored Indiana 11-0 on points off of turnovers.
Final IU individual statistics
Final tempo-free statistics
Assembly Call postgame show
Filed to: Northwestern Wildcats
