I don’t think anybody’s counting on IU to beat Purdue again this season, especially at Mackey on Senior Day. Most Indiana fans would be content with simply a win over Rutgers and an elusive invitation to the NCAA Tournament. Maybe we could even get revenge over Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa or Purdue in the conference tourney to put some extra icing on the cake.

Last year, IU lost to Rutgers a record three times, including 61-50 in the Big Ten tournament; Archie Miller’s last game as coach. The Scarlet Knights returned five of the eight top players from that time that reached the second round of the bracket, after making the field for the first time in 30 years. They were in the Final Four when IU won it all in 1976, losing to Michigan.

Going into the Rutgers game, we knew that no lead was safe since the Hoosier offense was prone to stalling, starting with the official Woodson era opener that saw a nearly disastrous collapse against Eastern Michigan. Up by 11 the lead painfully shrunk to 1. It was a similar story against St. John’s losing a 14-point lead before winning by 2. A 10-point lead to Marshall was cut to three, but the Hoosiers showed fight against Syracuse, making up a 16-point deficit to take the Orange into two overtimes. However, they then blew a 22-point lead at Wisconsin and a 7-point advantage over Iowa. When the Badgers came to Bloomington, I.U. had them on the ropes for the second time before once again falling short. The rollercoaster took another dip, to make Hoosier stomachs woozy with the Minnesota near-nightmare. Would this disturbing pattern of momentum shifts continue in the battle of the bubble teams?

On Senior Night against the Scarlet Knights, the Hoosiers squandered two ten-point leads, after Coach Pikiell moved his defense into a crafty zone and shut down the hot-shooting Jackson-Davis. After 15-points in the first half, he was limited to only four from that point on, including two free throws. He had  no baskets in the last 19 minutes and nine seconds of the game. IU got stuck at the 52 mark with an edge of seven but failed to score for over 4-minutes, allowing Rutgers to tie the game. They got to sixty first with 41-seconds remaining on two Clifford Omoruyl free throws and won 68-63 on a last second shot by Ron  Harper, Jr. 

IU’s Miller Kopp made a pair of free throws, forced a turnover, and got the ball to Parker Stewart for a tying three before Harper sealed the win. Sadly, it was another tale of two halves with the Hoosiers not making plays down the stretch. 6 for 21 from three-point range with Stewart at only 2-9 was the difference in the game, as we failed to shoot over the zone. Rutgers is headed to the Big Dance, while the Hoosiers may have to settle for the NIT. The frustration continues with Purdue up next and even an upset probably won’t make a difference.