Indiana Needs Depth To Step Up After Recent Injuries, Defensive Breakdowns

Indiana basketball gave up 175 total points in losses to Iowa and Northwestern, suffering constant defensive breakdowns in both games. Losing Xavier Johnson and Race Thompson hurts the Indiana defense, but several Hoosiers need to step up moving forward.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Defensive breakdowns became commonplace during Indiana's 84-83 home loss to Northwestern on Sunday. After the game, coach Mike Woodson was asked what has happened to Indiana's backbone, a unit that ranked first in the Big Ten in adjusted defensive efficiency a year ago.

"Xavier Johnson and Race Thompson are sitting on the sideline," Woodson started.

He has a point. Johnson, Indiana's fifth-year starting point guard who injured his foot on Dec. 17 at Kansas, is a pest. He's in a defensive stance from the moment the ball is inbounded, playing full-court defense and making it difficult for the opponent to run its offense. Thompson, a sixth-year veteran who suffered a knee injury on Thursday at Iowa, might not have the shot-blocking prowess of Trayce Jackson-Davis, but his defensive communication, toughness and rebounding are vital to any team.

Johnson and Thompson's absence hurts Indiana, no doubt, but it doesn't excuse allowing 84 points to a Northwestern team that entered the game ranked 186th in the nation in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency rating. Northwestern averages 68.8 points per game, and its only 80-plus point performances this season have come against Indiana, Illinois Chicago (269th in NET rankings) and Chicago State (295th in NET). 

But Indiana was lost on defense and out-hustled on its home court on Sunday. 

"That's why we're struggling a little bit defensively," Woodson said. "We've got two starters that are sitting on the sideline, and I'm reaching trying to figure out who's going to replace that."

On Indiana's first defensive possession of the game, Boo Buie casually strolled up the court, organizing the Northwestern offense. Ty Berry caught the ball on the right wing, and set a screen on Indiana's Jordan Geronimo on the left elbow. By the time Geronimo noticed, Buie's screen freed up teammate Robbie Beran for a dive to the basket. There was no help defense, Geronimo was out of position and late to recover, and Beran scored the game's first basket.

Northwestern jumped out to a 19-9 lead within the first six minutes, which extended to a 17-point Indiana deficit roughly six minutes later. Indiana trimmed Northwestern's lead to seven at halftime, but its runs were short-lived throughout the second half. Indiana tried a 2-2-1 press and dropped back to a 2-3 zone, playing more zone than Woodson said he's ever played as a coach, but that didn't fix the defensive shortcomings.

Freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino, who scored 33 points, made a few miraculous shots down the stretch and Trey Galloway's half-court heave nearly erased a nine-point deficit with 46 seconds left, but the Hoosiers walked away with an 84-83 loss, their second in a row to move to 1-3 in Big Ten play. 

Jackson-Davis contributed 18 points, 24 rebounds, eight assists and four blocks, but he was disappointed in the amount of fouls Indiana committed on Sunday, which put Northwestern in the bonus at the 12:15 mark of the second half. The Wildcats hit 19-of-28 free throw attempts, compared to Indiana's 10-for-14 mark.

Jackson-Davis also thought Indiana gave up too many straight line drives to the basket, forcing the defense to over help and leave open shooters on the perimeter. 

"I just think sometimes we kind of get discombobulated almost, where we're not playing our type of defense," Jackson-Davis said. "Coach had a great game plan, and I don't think we followed it at all, honestly. We didn't switch when we needed to switch, and it's mental errors. When you don't listen to your coaches, that's going to really hurt you because obviously they were getting whatever shot they wanted."

With Johnson and Thompson out, Indiana desperately needs Geronimo, Malik Reneau and others to step up. Geronimo played just 10 minutes in his first career start, missing both shot attempts and picking up three fouls. Woodson said he thought Geronimo would give Indiana a lift, starting him because of his experience as a junior. That didn't work, though, and Woodson is considering another lineup change.

Reneau's production has fallen off after an impressive 12-point performance at Xavier on Nov. 18 in his first college basketball road game. But across eight games from Nov. 30 through Jan. 5, Reneau shot 14-for-34 overall with 32 points, 23 rebounds, 20 fouls and 16 turnovers. He had his best game in over a month against Northwestern, scoring eight points on 4-for-5 shooting with three rebounds. Reneau has the talent, and his improvement has to continue with Thompson on the bench.

Jackson-Davis is taking ownership in helping prepare his teammates for increased roles.

"I just got to talk to them," Jackson-Davis said. "Some of these guys, they haven't ever been put in this position, especially with X and Race out. We've got guys coming in that have never been playing in Big Ten basketball games, like CJ Gunn coming in, Jordan Geronimo starting. Those are guys that haven't been put in this position, and they've got to learn, but they've got to learn fast. 

"I've just got to do a better job in getting them ready and prepared mentally to go because they have all the physical attributes to be ready. They've just got to get that mental block out of their system and then they'll be good."

Moving forward, Indiana has two opportunities to turn things around this week. It starts with a road trip to Penn State on Wednesday, followed by a home game against No. 18 Wisconsin on Saturday. Just four games into a 20-game Big Ten slate, there's time to fix the obvious defensive issues, but it's got to start soon.

"Nobody is going to feel sorry for the Indiana Hoosiers," Woodson said. "And yes, we've got to key guys that are sitting on the bench not in uniform, but we've got other guys that are in uniform that's got to step up and play."

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