It’s no secret that it’s been a down year for the Big Ten. Rather than being a deep conference, filled with championship contenders, it features Wisconsin at the top surrounded by mediocrity and disappointing bottom feeders.
Michigan was supposed to be a challenger for the Badgers, but they have proven to be nothing of the sort. They even lost to the New Jersey Institute of Technology earlier in the season. Now, leading scorer Caris Levert is out for the season, extinguishing any hopes they had of contending.
Michigan State and Ohio State are both fine, but only fine. They are not bad teams, but they are not exactly good teams either. Can anyone challenge Bo Ryan and Wisconsin?
Perhaps Indiana is up for the task.
The Hoosiers were all but forgotten after a November loss to Eastern Washington. They were written off as the latest in a growing longer list of disappointing Tom Crean teams at Indiana.
Since then, they have lost three more games, none to sub-par opponents, and find themselves ranked 23rd in the country with a 15-4 record (5-1 in the Big Ten). They are tied with Wisconsin for the conference lead and are coming off of a statement win over Maryland.
If people were not paying attention to Indiana, they are after that performance. The Hoosiers throttled the Terrapins 89-70, thanks to a 15-for-22 performance from three-point range.
More from Hoops Habit
- The 5 most dominant NBA players who never won a championship
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
They were led by junior point guard Yogi Ferrell who has developed into the team’s leader over his three seasons in Bloomington. Ferrell is averaging 15.4 points and five assists per game while shooting 42.4 percent from deep this season. Against Maryland, he made an impressive seven three-pointers and scored 24 points.
Ferrell needed a performance like that for his confidence. He was on a streak of three consecutive poor games, shooting less than 40 percent in each, and Indiana could not keep winning without their star being on his game.
While Ferrell was struggling, freshman James Blackmon Jr. was proving he could be a star. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard has put up 16.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, leading the Hoosiers in scoring and rebounding.
Blackmon is extremely versatile. This season, he has showed the ability to score inside, typically using his athleticism to dunk on some poor soul, and he has also shown the ability to knock down outside shots (42.3 percent on three-pointers).
Ferrell, Blackmon, and big men Troy Williams and Hanner Mosquera-Perea make up the core of this squad. Their offensive games have meshed incredibly well together, leading to a 10th-ranked offensive rating (117.6).
Their 81.9 points per game is ninth in the country, and it is clear that Tom Crean’s team is certainly not lacking any offensive firepower. But a great offense does not always equal championships.
Just because they have some talented players, and just because they have played well early in the weak Big Ten, does not mean they can challenge Wisconsin. They are still a deeply flawed team.
The Hoosiers have proven to be defensively challenged this season. They have the 235th-ranked defensive rating this season at 102.3, and they lack a true rim protector inside. Rim protection is not always a necessity for elite teams in college basketball, but if you can’t protect the rim, you better guard the perimeter well. Indiana does neither.
Against the deliberate ball movement-oriented offense of Bo Ryan’s Badgers, a lackluster defensive effort will easily get picked apart. A Feb. 6 trip to the Kohl Center will give us the answer as to whether or not Indiana can really turn into a challenger for the current conference favorites.
In the end, it will come down to whether or not Indiana’s offense can consistently cover up for their less than stellar defense. Or, there’s always the possibility that they could develop into a better defensive team over time.
Sunday presents the latest challenge for the Hoosiers. They’ll travel to Columbus, Ohio, to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes and the possible conference player of the year, D’Angelo Russell. This is the type of game they have to win if they have any hopes of winning the Big Ten.