Indiana basketball searching for any positives as its execution continues to lack while the gap continues to grow between itself and the competition

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — 21 games into year four of the Mike Woodson era and Indiana basketball is watching itself take small steps back, and this year large at times, each time it takes the floor. Why? A lack of attention to detail that causes mental lapses in critical moments of games. And it seemed to come to a head on Sunday in IU’s 79-78 loss to Maryland.

Indiana used a 22-7 run over six minutes to take a five-point lead with 3:07 remaining and seemed to be in total control. Yet again, it was another collapse in late game situations that has become all-too-familiar.

Then, it was the confusion at the end of the game with a chance to win it. Instead, it could be the moment that becomes the beginning of the end for this era as that moment where the substitution patterns had not only the players lost, but also the coaches, looking like a microcosm of what the Woodson era has become; disappointment and mental lapses.

“You’ve got to make plays down the stretch, and I got to get them to understand that,” Woodson said following the loss. “We missed a big front end of a one-and-one that could have put us back up three or four. It was just the little things that we didn’t execute coming down the homestretch.”

That loss put Indiana 2-7 in Quad 1 games this season and to an eye-popping 16-36 over the course of Woodson’s tenure.

Entering the final week of January, Indiana basketball is ranked 63rd in KenPoms ratings and 13th in the Big Ten. IU is 68th in the NET rankings and 14th in the conference. According to KenPom, Indiana is projected to finish 17-14 overall and 8-12 in Big Ten play.

Indiana basketball has now gone 21-14, 23-12, 19-14 in the first three seasons and sit at 14-7 currently. Indiana has yet to make it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament and are on the verge of missing the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season despite having one of the highest NIL payouts this year.

And now there are six straight games against Quad 1 opponents and four of the next six against ranked opponents inside the top-17 of the rankings. It’s the kind of stretch any team wants when it needs quality wins — unfortunately, the consistency is lacking. The attention to detail is lacking. And, the ability to show up in big games is lacking.

Despite all of that, the opportunities are there.

“We’re sitting at 5-5 in the Big Ten. We’ve got ten games left. Our next four are against really, really good teams that, if we’re able to string some wins together, it changes the whole trajectory of our season,” IU guard Anthony Leal said. “We get Purdue, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, those are golden opportunities for us to get over the hump a little bit, figure it out, and just continue learning how to win.

“If we’re able to string some of those wins together, it changes everything. We still have ten games to go, and we want to try to win all ten of them.”

“We just take it day by day. I think each and every day that we come into work, I think we have a positive mindset, we want to get better,” Indiana guard Myles Rice added. “Paying attention to the scouts and everything. I think we did all that today (Sunday). We just didn’t get the win we wanted. It doesn’t change what we have to do. We still show up each and every day working and trying to get better.”

The optimism is there; but it has to be.

However, the lack of execution, preparedness and mental toughness continues to linger and loom larger and larger with each passing game. Indiana’s season is on life support and so too is the Mike Woodson era.

And now he has to find something, anything, to lean on as the inconsistencies continue to mount and the gap between Indiana basketball and the competition continues to separate.

“Any time you lose, it’s tough to swallow. I don’t like to lose at all. It’s just my makeup,” Woodson said. “I know those guys in the locker room, I love them to death, and they don’t like losing. Again, I’ve just got to help them more. That’s what I’ve got to do.”

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