The Morning After: UCONN

"They're Freshman"

Crean's response when asked about the drop-off in Troy Williams and Noah Vonleh's performance from the previous night's game said it all: "they're freshman."

Indiana was forced to play without Vonleh's 15.4 points and 11.8 rebounds per game as the freshman learned a hard lesson about keeping his hands to himself. Still, the unranked Hoosiers were able to take a ranked UCONN team with National Championship experience down to the wire. A fact that has many Hoosier fans waking up oddly content for the morning after a loss.

What Indiana Can Learn from Kentucky

Fans can settle in for a season full of ups and downs like we saw in the 2K Sports Classic. It's what you'd expect from a team as inexperienced as the 2013-2014 Indiana Hoosiers. Based on the "average experience per minute" statistic, there are only eight teams more inexperienced than Indiana in the country. One of them happens to be our dear friend Kentucky. Although the Wildcats have received all the attention thus far, they are actually statistically similar to the Hoosiers this year. Not surprising as both are inexperienced, yet talented teams.

Neither team is ranked in the top 40 in field goal percentage, free-throws, three-pointers, or assists. Categories in which you would expect polished college players to excel. However, both teams mitigate these shortcomings with extreme athleticism and effort. Despite their poor shooting percentages, in terms of points per game, both Indiana (31st) and Kentucky (22nd) are thriving. How? By producing more opportunities. Both teams rank in the top ten nationally in offensive rebounding.

This dominance in terms of rebounding is going to be essential for Indiana's success this year. Last night made that clear. While Indiana had been masking their poor shooting by out-rebounding opponents by 20 boards per game, they were dead even with UCONN last night at 38 apiece. As a natural consequence, the team scored 36 points fewer than their season average.

Other than rebounding, turnovers were obviously a big problem. In fact, turnovers may be an even bigger issue for the Hoosiers than shooting at this point as IU ranks 322nd in terms of their assist-to-turnover ratio. If the early comparison to Kentucky has you wondering why the Wildcats are being talked about as National Championship contenders and the Hoosiers are just focused on making the tournament, turnovers may have something to do with. While the two young teams are comparable in most statistical categories, Kentucky is 215 spots ahead of the Hoosiers with regards to assist-to-turnover rate.

Summary: Improve the turnovers and Indiana is on the same (statistical) level as the fourth ranked Kentucky Wildcats.

If There's Such Thing as a Good Loss...

All in all, there's a lot to be excited about with this year's team. Thursday we caught a glimpse of the potential. Friday we were brought back down to earth. Even though the Hoosiers came up short, they're growth and development was evident. Game-to-game you can see this young team improving. In fact, last night you could see them improve from half-to-half (Indiana outscored UCONN in the second half 34-29). Sophomore leader Yogi Ferrell summed up what everyone at home witnessed:

We learned we're never going to back down. We were always there, still fighting, still trying to get a lead. That just shows our character...this loss is going to help up down the road.

Fans can't wait to see what these Hoosiers can accomplish "down the road."

Worth Noting:

• The Hoosiers are ranked a woeful 276 in three point percentage. While IU may be serving as a poor ambassador for a state that is supposed to be full of shooters, other school's are picking up the slack. Two of the top three teams in the country in three point percentage hail from the hoosier state: Indiana State (1) and Evansville (3).
  

• Yogi and Sheehey are currently accounting for 78 percent of the team's three point field goals and 63 percent of the assists. However, they only contributing 17 percent of steals, 10 percent of the offensive rebounds, and 5 percent of blocks.
  

• While Shabazz Napier looked unstoppable last night, the Hoosier defense held the rest of the Husky offense to just 28.2 percent shooting.