IOWA CITY, Iowa — With floor seats located across from the Indiana bench and the Hoosiers trailing by 24 points, two fans decked in crimson made known their displeasure with Indiana men’s basketball coach Mike Woodson during a media timeout.
Nothing was vulgar, but it magnified what transpired Saturday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. In a facility that was two-thirds full during Iowa’s blistering 85-60 win, Indiana was lifeless, and Woodson had no answer for anything on the court. Now, with a home game against No. 13 Illinois on Tuesday, questions are piling up for the Hoosiers and the clock is ticking on Woodson’s tenure.
For the past two months, Indiana has blended a roster comprised of top transfers such as Arizona center Oumar Ballo, Myles Rice (Washington State), Kanaan Carlyle (Stanford) and Luke Goode (Illinois) with a few holdovers, including co-freshman of the year Mackenzie Mgbako and Trey Galloway.
Ballo, a 7-foot center who was the consensus top player in the transfer portal, has helped the Hoosiers to a 13-4 record (4-2 in the Big Ten). But their lack of on-court chemistry has prevented an identity from emerging as the season reaches its midpoint.
“I’ll never use that (the portal) as an excuse,” said Woodson, an Indiana All-American player in 1979 and 1980. “We do have new players; there’s no doubt about that. But the whole country, college basketball and all sports, have new players, and how quickly you put it together and mesh together as a team will determine your opportunity to win at a high level.
“We’ve been playing good basketball. I can’t sit here and complain. Our last five games were very competitive and against some good teams. So, we just got to go back and regroup.”
Indiana’s five-game win streak came to a halt, which happens to the Big Ten’s best teams on the road. But the problem for Indiana is that what happened in Iowa City has become all too commonplace. Of the Hoosiers’ 18 losses in the past year-plus, none have been by one score. In fact, 16 of the 18 defeats came by at least 8 points.
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The Hoosiers’ four losses this year were by an average of 21.5 points. Their only two wins away from Assembly Hall were at neutral sites, and both were against teams without a winning conference record. In two true Big Ten road games, at Iowa and Nebraska — a 6-point win against Penn State was at The Palestra in Philadelphia — Indiana lost by a combined 42 points.
Saturday, the Hoosiers had six turnovers before the first media timeout, which propelled Iowa to a 15-0 run. Ballo had three of those turnovers, and Woodson briefly pulled him. Then the Hoosiers went on an 18-2 run to take a 3-point lead. Much of it was keyed by Rice, either through his scoring (a 3-pointer and two layups) or passing (two assists).
However, Indiana’s offense consisted of Rice attempting to piece together a possession with his teammates incorporating some type of motion offense. For a six-minute stretch, the Hoosiers missed six straight shots and committed four more turnovers. Iowa rebuilt a 13-point lead, and with a 43-33 halftime advantage, the Hawkeyes’ could point to 17 of their first-half points having come off Indiana turnovers.
“They were just plain uncharacteristic,” said Rice, who led Indiana with 12 points. “Like (Woodson) said, during the five-game stretch, we’ve been playing really good basketball, holding on to it. And I think (Saturday) we just got a little bit outside of ourselves. We started off slow and that kind of was like an avalanche, a little bit. So, one thing led to another, and it kept on going all night.”
Then came the second half, which Indiana can define as an aberration. But it also could become a tipping point in Woodson’s tenure. Iowa mostly threw a matchup zone against the Hoosiers, and yet Indiana failed to rebound or pick up second-chance opportunities.
The Hawkeyes, who entered the game ranked last among Big Ten teams in rebounding margin at minus-5, outrebounded the Hoosiers 37-31. Iowa also outscored Indiana 12-9 in second-chance opportunities, and sophomore forward Owen Freeman (16 points, 12 rebounds) thoroughly outplayed Ballo in the post.
Woodson, who served as head coach of the New York Knicks (2012-14) and Atlanta Hawks (2004-10), remained calm throughout an Iowa 19-4 run early in the second half. He sat through Iowa’s surge until calling a timeout following a 3-pointer from Iowa’s Josh Dix with 16:02 left in the game. Afterward, Woodson didn’t leave the bench during an 8-point run from Iowa’s Payton Sandfort, which included two more 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 23 points. The coach stood only when three Hoosiers were called for fouls on a singular Iowa possession.
Iowa (12-4, 3-2) can be every bit as enigmatic as Indiana, but it has a clear identity. The Hawkeyes remain among the nation’s best scoring teams annually under coach Fran McCaffery, who is in his 15th season. They lead the Big Ten and rank second nationally at 89.6 points per game and play with a pace that puts incredible pressure on every defense.
But as prolific as Iowa’s offense is, its defense is equally vulnerable in just about every phase. The Hawkeyes had their reckoning a week ago at Wisconsin, where they gave up a Big Ten-record 21 3-pointers in a 116-85 loss, the most points scored in a Big Ten game by the Badgers. Until Saturday night, the Hawkeyes hadn’t held a Big Ten opponent to 60 points or fewer in their past 32 games.
Perhaps this effort will serve as a similar wake-up call for Indiana, which perpetually teases fans and observers with its talent and recruiting prowess, then crumbles against quality opponents. Since Woodson took over before the 2021-22 campaign, 20 of his 44 losses have come by at least 15 points. The latest marked his worst defeat in Big Ten play. It would have been even worse had center Langdon Hatton not chosen to dunk unopposed with three seconds left after Iowa allowed the shot clock to expire during its previous possession.
“We’ve been playing some pretty good basketball, and when you go out on the road in the Big Ten, you can’t turn it over,” Woodson said afterward. “You’ve got to rebound it with your opponent, and you got to make shots. And we failed in all three areas.”
With four of their next six on the road — and home contests against Big Ten contenders Illinois and Maryland — the Hoosiers face a crossroads. Either they will make progress, or the questions will grow louder and test a passionate fan base’s patience with the program and with Woodson.
(Photo of Indiana guard Myles Rice and Iowa guard Josh Dix: Jeffrey Becker / Imagn Images)
