‘We gotta stop doing things we shouldn’t do’: Indiana basketball lacks discipline and Friday’s loss to Wisconsin only emphasized that

With under 13 minutes left in the game and Wisconsin on a run, sophomore guard CJ Gunn elbowed Wisconsin’s Max Klesmit in the face right in front of the Badgers’ bench.

Gunn was subsequently given a flagrant 2 foul and ejected from the game. It was the fourth time in the last four games that Indiana basketball had been assessed a flagrant foul.

Against Rutgers, sixth-year senior Xavier Johnson hit an opposing player in the groin while fighting through a screen. He was given a flagrant 2 foul and ejected as a result.

Then Tuesday against Purdue, Johnson checked Zach Edey away from the ball and was given a flagrant 1 as a result. In the same game, Payton Sparks was called for a hook-and-hold foul which resulted in another flagrant 1 foul.

The lack of leadership and discipline with Indiana basketball is clear and Friday night’s 91-79 loss to Wisconsin just showcased the recurring issue.

Coming into the season, Johnson and senior guard Trey Galloway were named captains and expected to fill the shoes of Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson as the leaders of this team. While the issues with this team don’t solely fall on the shoulders of Johnson and Galloway, they have not done what was expected when Mike Woodson named them captains.

“I put it where it lies, it still starts with our seniors,” Woodson said about the team’s poor effort. “We got three of them. I didn’t think Walker was very good. (Galloway) had a stretch where he was horrendous and really cost us about ten points. Those are things that are correctable that we have to clean up if we’re gonna move forward and stay in the hunt.”

Longtime Indiana basketball radio broadcaster Don Fischer shared his thoughts during the game.

“I’m going to say something I’ve never said on air in 51 years,” Fischer said Friday. “I’m embarrassed of this ball club, not because of the score.”

The consistent lack of effort, fight and discipline has been extremely disappointing all season.

“Their program is better than this,” Robbie Hummel said on the broadcast after Gunn was ejected. “… This is not what they are about. I don’t know why they continue to do this.”

Indiana basketball’s season is slipping away and they keep hurting themselves game after game.

“It went haywire. Stuff that can’t happen,” Woodson said about Gunn’s ejection “… We gotta stop doing things we shouldn’t do.”

This team needs to be held accountable for their actions and it doesn’t seem to be happening. Taking Xavier Johnson out of the starting lineup after his ejection seemed to be a good start, but clearly it hasn’t worked as nothing has changed.

“We’re still trying to figure each other out,” Woodson said after the game.

It’s January, and Indiana is 19 games into the season, there is no excuse for this lack of discipline and performance. Woodson cannot keep using youth as an excuse, especially with two senior guards.

This team is mentally weak, and their inability to play hard for 40 minutes is only a microcosm of that.

“No, not when you give up 91 points,” Woodson said when asked if he was pleased with his team’s effort. “I thought we fought, we didn’t quit. … Who’s playing defense, nobody.”

In the last two games, Indiana’s opponents have combined to score 178 points (89 per game). That kind of defense is not going to win many, especially in the Big Ten.

Something has to change if Indiana basketball is going to save its season, and the captains and leaders of this team will have to step up if they hope to right the ship.

Indiana basketball has a week to prepare and reset before they travel to Urbana-Champaign to play No.14 Illinois.

SEE ALSO: Robbie Hummel on Indiana basketball: ‘Their program is better than this’