Indiana could have really used a sweep on its Los Angeles road trip, but the Hoosiers came up short in an 81-75 loss to USC on Tuesday night. The Hoosiers are now 15-8 on the season and 6-6 in the Big Ten, with work still to do to claim a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — There seems to be a common theme for when things go wrong for Indiana's basketball team. That same script emerged again on Tuesday night in the back end of their California swing against USC.
The Hoosiers couldn't find any scoring outside of star Lamar Wilkerson, and they got crushed on the boards once again. It led to an uphill battle all night long, and ended with an 81-75 loss to the Trojans at the Galen Center.
The Hoosiers, who had won three straight games before Tuesday, are now 15-8 overall and 6-6 in the Big Ten. They're back home again on Saturday against Wisconsin, and back into a situation where they need to win two home games for sure — they host struggling Oregon on Monday night — to stay in the NCAA Tournament field come March.
Wilkerson scored 33 points for the Hoosiers, but none of his teammates touched double digits. They've had too many games like that. They also got outrebounded 40-25 while giving up several inches at every position. That, too, has happened far too often. Combine the two, and it's a tough way to win — despite being on a bit of a heater with impressive wins over Rutgers, Purdue and UCLA.
Not Tuesday. They trailed throughout most of the game, and a late rally came up short.
"It doesn't matter how good I played if we don't come out with a win," said Wilkerson, who scored 30-plus for the third time this season.
Tucker DeVries, the nation's leader in points scored (2,301) among active players, only had five points against the Trojans. He was 1-for-9 shooting and just 1-for-8 from deep.
And Nick Dorn, who had been averaging 22.3 points per game in his three recent starts, when just 2-for-12 with all 14 shots coming from three-point range. In 36 minutes, he had just six points, two rebounds and one assist.
"I thought we had some great opportunities there," Indiana coach Darian DeVries said. "Nick has been shooting it about as well as anyone in the country. He just had an off night. Tuck had some really good looks as well. They just didn't go down.
"So we didn't get that second or third scorer like we had been getting. Lamar really tried to carry us there. And at the rim, we need to finish a little stronger so we can get to the free throw line. We need to do a better job of drawing those fouls."
Indiana was 13-for-16 from the line, but USC used their physicality to get to the line far more often. They made 25-of-31 free throws — a 12-point swing that mattered in a game that came down to the wire.
USC went on a 16-4 run early in the second half to take a 55-41 lead. The Hoosiers punched back to get within four, but then USC answered to take a 11-point lead with 3:47 to go, and were still up nine with 1:22 to go.
Wilkerson made a three, and Tayton Conerway — who was back in a limited role after missing time with an ankle injury, added a free throw. DeVries hit two free throws to cut the lead to 75-71. After two USC turnovers, Conerway scored again to make it 75-73 with 31 seconds to go. He was fouled too, but missed the free throw.
The Hoosiers were forced to foul from there, and USC made all six free throws in the closing seconds. Freshman Alijah Arenas, who was playing just his fourth game of the season, led the Trojans with 29 points.
Conerway played 10 minutes off the bench to give the Hoosiers a boost.
"We weren't sure if he was going to be ready yet, but the last couple days he made pretty good progress,” DeVries said after the game. “He was able to practice a decent amount (Monday), felt he was good today to give it a go for some limited minutes."
Conerway has started all year, but Dorn has been great in his absence. DeVries might have to balance some minutes there, and determine a starting lineup again.
"We'll see where it's at,” DeVries said. “Right now, we'll stick with what we've been doing and see how it plays out from there. Nick has been shooting it as well as anybody in the country.
With the loss, the Hoosiers are tied for 10th with USC in the 18-team Big Ten. They are in the NCAA Tournament for now, but the loss Tuesday doesn't help. With eight Big Ten games to go, the Hoosiers will likely be favored in four of their five home games — Wisconsin, Oregon, Minnesotan and Northwestern — but likely will be underdogs at home against Michigan State and on the road at Illinois, Purdue and the season finale at Ohio State.
So, yes, there's still plenty of work to be done for the Hoosiers to get a postseason bid.