Rapid Reaction IU vs. Northwestern

[mdn82 25,765]

Finally.  I get to be happy with the outcome of a game.  How about that?  2nd road win of the year!  I dubbed this one the Battle of Suck early on, and it lived up to its billing.  It was not pretty.  It was not something you would like to see from a good team.  Good news for Hoosier fans!  We are not good, so beggars can't be choosers.  We get to celebrate for one night, and then look forward to arguably the toughest week any team in America will or has seen all year.  We get to see Iowa, Wisconsin, and OSU.  That just is not fair.  Until then lets talk about some good news.  

 

As a team, it wasn't all peaches.  Rebounding was an issue throughout.  We were playing against a gutted Northwestern team, who has more in common with some of our pre-conference opponents when it comes to rebounding than any other team in the B1G.  They have not been just bad.  They have been terrible.  We have been in the top 5 all year in rebounding margin, and still managed to keep them in the game by not fighting for boards.  They out rebounded us 36-29.  That is just awful.  On the flip side of that, was our ability to hold onto the ball unlike any team Crean has had here.  We ended up with a shocking 7 turnovers.  We also only shot at 50% from the line tonight.  Ultimately, this was not a game we were losing.  If we did, people with torches and pitchforks would have been waiting for the team bus.  That Northwestern team was gutted.  If we do what we did against them, we will lose 3 games next week.  

 

Individually, it was balance across the board.  Four of our starters ended up with 12 points.  Noah looked like he was on his way to 20 boards early on, but didn't have quite the talent of Olah and his 17 and 11.  Will gave us 6 boards and steals to go with his 12.  Troy did what he should be doing every game and leaking to the rim when the defense collapsed.  That guy has some serious ups.  Yogi had a quiet 12, but it was efficient.  He only had 2 assists, but played within the game tonight.  Ultimately, it was a weird game where it felt like we should win by 20, but they were there all night.  As much as they weren't scoring, we had issues getting points in stretches.  

 

Who cares about the critiquing?  A win is a win for a team who is struggling.  We needed this.  We need some confidence.  Like most wins this year, we have enough video to go back on and try to improve.  But, we hopefully get some much needed confidence.  We have a murderers row of games this next week starting Tuesday against Wisconsin.  Until then ladies and gents, lets enjoy this.  Lets put those pitchforks down for one night and give props to a team that apparently still has some fight left in them.  

[ou812dude 3,326]

good post...

this game isn't going to cause Marines to write home to their mothers, but it's a win...

 

4 guys with 12 points each...7 total turnovers...limited fouls...

but...

 

gave up a crap ton of offensive rebounds and shot 50percent from the foul line...

 

time to go to Madison...a place where chocolate melts and dreams freeze...

[JSHoosier 21,424]

This wasn't the same Northwestern team that beat us in AH they were just bad, this was a team that was crippled on top of being bad.  So it's hard to really measure improvement, but a win is a win.

[jnape34 36]

Thank God we won! I'll take the W no matter how ugly it was!


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[OliviaPope40 6,983]

Finally we got a win and we can't give up.

[mdn82 25,765]

Finally we got a win and we can't give up.

 

Yep.  Much needed win.  Hopefully it carries over to next week.