For the first 20 minutes of Indiana’s NIT opener against Saint Francis (Pa.), the Hoosiers echoed how a portion of the fan base felt about the tournament: what’s the point?
IU was two days removed from being excluded from the NCAA tournament and was playing without star freshman Romeo Langford, who injured his back in Thursday’s Big Ten tournament loss to Ohio State. The Hoosiers had spurts of strong play in the first half, but the full outlook showed a lack of energy, concentration and discipline.
Indiana spurned its traditional offensive sets for 3s early in the shot clock far too often, and jogging back on defense was a common occurrence in the first half.