IU-Iowa thoughts

I was actually pleased to see the Hoosiers pull back into this game and actually threaten an upset on the road. I was also disappointed to see perhaps IU's best opportunity to spring a stunner on the road slip away. But at least the turnover rate is slowly ticking down.

What I liked:
The hustle, the never-say-die hard work on defense, and the rebounding! Aside from a blown box-out here and there, it was surprisingly good work on the glass from this undersized club. Kyle Taber & Tom Pritchard deserve some credit for hanging in their despite foul trouble, even if they couldn't contain Cyrus Tate. Also, Nick Williams has some go-to ability to create his own shot, which was great to see when Dumes fouled out. If the Hoosiers continue to compete like this, they won't go defeated in conference play.

What I didn't:
The fouls (it is always a challenge to learn how to play tough D on the road without fouling). Daniel Moore stands out here for getting four fouls in 11 minutes. Taber fouled out in 17, but his final foul was absolutely the right thing to do (preventing a lay-up/dunk). The foul-shooting in the first-half made me sick, but the Hoosiers redeemed themselves in the second half. And while I liked Dumes' ability to create offense, he still plays a bit sloppy and has too short of a fuse. And ultimately, our biggest problem continues to be just relying on too many freshmen, as they just commit obvious freshman mistakes (blown lay-ups, silly fouls, pointless dribbling). There's nothing Crean can do about playing freshmen, but hopefully he can continue to educate them about the mistakes while keeping them motivated for the next game.

Go Hoosiers.