PORTLAND, Ore. — Indiana’s wild March ride came to an end in dispiriting fashion Thursday as the No. 12-seeded Hoosiers were hammered 82-53 by No. 5 seed Saint Mary’s in the first round the NCAA tournament at the Moda Center.
The Hoosiers end their season 21-14 after their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2015. Saint Mary’s improves to 26-7 and advances to play the winner of Thursday night’s game between No. 4 seed UCLA and No. 13 seed Akron.
Osterman:IU’s brutal end doesn’t make this season a failure. Mike Woodson has reset the baseline.
Doyel:Yup, I wrote about IU cheerleaders. Because they deserve it, and the game doesn’t.
Dopirak:IU’s coach, players won’t say it. Goal Saint Mary’s will. ‘They were gassed.’
Here are three reasons why it happened:
The Hoosiers dug a first half hole and never recovered.
Indiana took a 21-17 lead on a floater by sophomore guard Trey Galloway with 8:35 to go in the first half, but Saint Mary’s answered with a 9-0 that then turned bigger. The Hoosiers made just three of their last 12 shots in the first half after starting the game 8-of-15 and Saint Mary’s made eight of their last 15 to outscore Indiana 23-7 the rest of the half. The Gaels took a 40-28 lead into halftime, and Indiana never found a grip in the second half.
The Hoosiers missed their first six shots of the second half and 11 of their first 12 and Saint Mary’s opened the half with a 27-5 run. By that point it was 67-33 and the game was decided.
Indiana’s offense stopped working at the worst possible time
Indiana’s offense has at no point been one of the nation’s most efficient, but the Hoosiers are rarely as ineffective as they were Thursday night.
After making eight of their first 15 shots to start the game, the Hoosiers made just four of their next 24, starting the second half 1-of-12. They finished 18-of-53 from the field, 2-of-10 from beyond the 3-point arc and finished with .803 points per possession. Meanwhile Saint Mary’s shot 31-of-60 from the field, 10-of-21 from 3 and finished with 1,262 points per possession.
A lone bright spot:IU cheerleaders retrieve a ball stuck between shot clock, backboard
‘This is an ass beating’:IU fans react to blowout loss to Saint Mary’s
Junior All-Big Ten center Trayce Jackson-Davis cracked his streak of four straight 20-plus point games with just 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Point guard Xavier Johnson had some decent moments but finished with just 11 points on 3-of-8 shooting, registering five assists but also five turnovers. Senior forward Race Thompson continued to struggle making just 1-of-6 field goals for three points. Seniors Rob Phinisee and MIller Kopp were a combined 0-of-9 from the field for zero points. Sophomore forward Jordan Geronimo had nine points and six rebounds but was one of the few bright spots. Meanwhile Saint Mary’s guards Logan Johnson and Tommy Kuhse had 20 points and 19 points, respectively.
Fatigue set in and hurt Indiana in every category
Indiana didn’t want any part of the narrative of being worn out by their five games in eight days, the trip from Dayton to Portland and the delayed flight that kept them up until the early morning on Wednesday. That being said, the Hoosiers clearly looked gassed Thursday night and it showed in every possible statistical category.
The Hoosiers have been a good rebounding team and have been good at blocking shots, but Saint Mary’s won the rebounding battle 39 to 28 and outscored the Hoosiers in the paint 36 to 28. Indiana’s guards couldn’t keep up with Saint Mary’s when they got downhill and they couldn’t get out to shooters fast enough. The Hoosiers’ big men had a hard time getting rebounds and finishing at the rim while Saint Mary’s had no such trouble. A second-half break down in which the Hoosiers were slow getting back on defense and allowed an easy lob pass from Saint Mary’s Kuhse to guard Logan Johnson showed a team that didn’t have the energy for things it always seems to do well.
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