My Two Cents: Familiar Themes in Another Painful Road Loss for Indiana

It takes 40 minutes of solid basketball to win on the road in the Big Ten, and Indiana came up short again, this time at Iowa on Thursday night when the Hoosiers fell 83-74 for their fourth straight road loss of the season, and eighth dating back to last February.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — It's going on close to a year now since Indiana's basketball team won a true road game. Last year ended with four straight losses away from home, and now there's s been four more this year to start the season.

One thing is certain, though, despite coaching changes and roster shuffling and attire debates. And it's this:

Indiana has played well enough for very long stretches to win road games this year. And they've played badly enough to let them slip away.

That's a bad combination.

What we know about this Indiana team, of course, is that they are a work in progress. Remember last year? I've really tried to to forget, but that team was often unwatchable, and that's why they went 12-15. 

Those last four losses were by more than double figures on average. This year's team is truly different. 

They are better, in a lot of areas, they really are. But they also are prone to playing poorly in certain areas, and sometimes it costs them games. On the road, it's been EVERY game where mistakes have cost them.

Thursday night was no different. In my game story, I broke down the turnovers, free throws and rebounding issues, and they all played a factor. Indiana coach Mike Woodson has talked often about simply getting over the hump on the road, and they just aren't there yet.

We've watched them take blows at home, and counter right back with haymakers of their own. That hasn't happened on the road. They've let leads slip away, and they haven't found an answer to deal with hostile environments and handling teams when they get on a run, especially in the second half of games.

"The last two games — (the wins at home against Ohio State and Minnesota) —  we dictated the pace, and we didn't do that tonight,'' Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis said. "They brought it to us, and tried to speed us up. We tried to do the same thing, and we didn't stick to our game plan. 

"They brought energy and we didn't match it. When you're on the road in a hostile environment and the crowd starts getting into it, you've got to make plays and get them to shush up. They went on that run in the first half, and we matched that. But in the second half, we didn't match that and they kept going and going. The team that has more energy, they're going to bring it to you, and that's what they did.''

Jackson-Davis is exactly right. He's the Hoosiers' best player, of course, but he's also the smartest. He sees everything that goes on. And it was clear on Thursday that Indiana didn't respond well to Iowa's relentless full-court and three-quarter court presses in the second half.

The Hoosiers committed 14 turnovers in the half, and took only six shots in the first 8-plus minutes when the Hawkeyes erased that seven-point halftime lead.

What their presses do — much like Syracuse's half-court zone — is make you play disjointed. They take you out of your game, and what you want to do. That was blatantly obvious. And even though it was a one-possession game for much of the second half, the Hoosiers were dreadful offensively. They made only nine shots in the second half, and were just 5-for-11 from the free throw line. (More on that in a minute.)

Point guards Xavier Johnson and Rob Phinisee both struggled, not only to score themselves but to get their teammates involved. They each had four turnovers. And Race Thompson, who has an active role in breaking the press, had five and even off the bench, Trey Galloway had three.

Giving it away was a problem, but so was not being efficient when they did break the press. They didn't run what's helped them win 12 games so far. They didn't get the ball inside and play off of Jackson-Davis.

He only got four second-half shots. And that can never — repeat, never — happen. There cannot be halves in critical games, especially on the road, where Xavier Johnson takes more shots that Trayce Jackson-Davis.

"(Getting the ball inside) I think sometimes we lose track of that,'' Jackson-Davis said. "In the second half, a big factor of it was their press, obviously, where we're getting up the court with 15 seconds on the shot clock having already run off the clock. We have to get into our offense quick. We settle sometimes, and that played a big factor.

"We been pretty good with turnovers — (single digits the last three games) — but tonight it wasn't us. We weren't playing our game and they sped us up a lot. Their press, we should have broken it. We weren't looking up the side.'' 

It's the nature of the beast to make too much of just one game — especially losses – in the span of a long, long season. In reality, it is still just one loss. It stings more because of how it plays out, but it's still just one loss. 

Iowa, if you need reminding was a 4.5-point favorite. They were ''supposed'' to win, and they did.

Indiana certainly could have won, though. They did a lot of good things. They were up seven at the half, and it could have been 17 as great as they were playing outside of that two minutes — two stinkin' minutes — when the five reserves all on the floor at the same time allowed Iowa to go on a 12-0 run.

But the Hoosiers bounced right back from that and went on a 9-0 run themselves, so we know they are capable. Those points came from bench guys too, five from Trey Galloway, two from Tamar Bates on a steal and dunk and two from Phinisee.

In can be done. It's just not getting done often enough.

It's also amazing to me that they can go to the free throw line six times and never once make both shots. Sure it's just one point at a time, but it all adds one. Too many things get in the way of getting a win on the road.

"In almost every game, we've had a lead at halftime on the road,'' Jackson-Davis said. "Obviously, everyone is disappointed. But we've got another game on Monday at Nebraska, and we'll stick together.''

That's the joy of a long basketball season. There's always another game. Monday night, they get to try again at Nebraska. 

Back to work. 

Watch highlights of Indiana-Iowa

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• GAME STORY: Poor free throwing shooting, too many turnovers and a lack of rebounding was too much for Indiana to overcome in an 83-74 loss to Iowa on Thursday night at in Iowa City. CLICK HERE
• LIVE BLOG: Here's the play-by-play from Indiana's game at Iowa on Thursday in our live blog, where you can relive the game a step at a time. Here's our live blog. CLICK HERE