Indiana coach Mike Woodson questioned his team’s toughness after the Hoosiers lost their fourth straight game, hurting their chances for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
The Hoosiers fell behind 19-2 in the first 4½ minutes and couldn’t close the gap, losing 76-64 at No. 21 Wisconsin on Tuesday. After the game, Woodson admitted that time was running out for the Hoosiers to earn a tournament berth, following their disappointment last season.
“We’re just not a tough team right now,” Woodson said. “We’re not. Mentally we’re not tough.”
Indiana (14-9, 5-7 Big Ten) had been ranked as high as 14th in the AP Top 25 in late November but has struggled recently. Before Tuesday’s game, the Hoosiers were ranked 65th in the NET rankings.
Though the team wasn’t playing terribly during the losing streak, Tuesday was different.
They led 31-25 at halftime against Northwestern but lost 79-70. They lost 79-78 to No. 18 Maryland after a last-second 3-pointer by Rodney Rice. Their most painful loss came Friday when they fell 81-76 at No. 7 Purdue, a game with six lead changes in the final four minutes.
Then, at Wisconsin, the Hoosiers never had a chance. They’ve now lost 21 straight times in Madison, last winning there in 1998. Wisconsin quickly took a 26-4 lead less than 7½ minutes into the game.
“We have a game like we did at Purdue where we really competed for 40 minutes, then we come in here and we lay an egg based on how we started the ballgame,” Woodson said. “You spot teams on the road 20, it’s going to get tough to get back in them. Again, that’s on me, man. We’re pushing and pulling and scraping and just trying to get what we can get. Guys just didn’t step up again tonight.”
Indiana dug a deep hole as Wisconsin hit 5 of 6 3-pointers in the first 4½ minutes. The Badgers’ two 7-footers, Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter, opened the game by hitting 3-pointers.
“Their bigs got away,” Woodson said. “That was the difference. I thought Malik (Reneau) and (Oumar) Ballo did an awful job in terms of guarding the bigs.”
With Indiana’s recent struggles, questions about Woodson’s future are likely to arise as the season continues. Woodson led Indiana to the NCAA Tournament in his first two seasons, but last year the Hoosiers finished 19-14 and turned down an NIT bid.
Indiana has eight games remaining to turn around its postseason hopes. Five of those games are at home, including a Saturday matchup with No. 24 Michigan.
“It’s not rocket science,” Woodson said. “Right now our backs are against the wall. We’re not playing great basketball. We’re playing in spurts. I thought the last three games prior to tonight we played pretty good ball, and we came up short.
We just win maybe one or two of those, you’re feeling good about yourself. I’ve got to figure out a game where we can get these guys back feeling good about themselves and see where it goes from there.”
