My Two Cents: Let's Hope Long Layoff Has Hoosiers Well Prepared on Sunday

For the second time in a month, the Indiana Hoosiers have had a nice eight-day stretch between games. They played well the last time, and will need to be locked in on a game plan Sunday against Northwestern at Assembly Hall. They'll play in front of a lot of former teammates, which should be fun, too.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Big Ten basketball season can be a real grind, but the for the second time in a month, Indiana has a nice eight-day window between games. 

That's a lot. And very uncommon. They haven't had seven off days in a row during a Big Ten season since 2014, and haven't had eight since 2009. They've NEVER had two eight-day stretches during a Big Ten season in recent memory.

The Hoosiers get back in action on Sunday afternoon, taking on pesky Northwestern at 3 p.m. ET at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. In this season full of missed opportunities for 14-10 Indiana, this is one they have to have. To have a postseason, they need to beat the Wildcats, and it would sure help to beat Nebraska at home on Wednesday night, too.

The last time they had an eight-day gap between games, they actually played really well at Illinois despite being a 14.5-point underdog. A week of prep time allowed them to have a great defensive game plan, and they kept the high-powered Illini offense at bay. The game was tied with 53 seconds to go, but the Hoosiers couldn't close it out in a 70-62 loss. 

That kind of sold prep work will come in handy on Sunday, too. Northwestern has been a pain in the butt lately for the Hoosiers, winning twice last year — and five times in the past seven meetings. The Wildcats won 84-83 in Bloomington on Jan. 8 and 64-62 five weeks later in Evanston.

Figuring out Boo Buie — and having a week-plus to do it — can be a good thing. Buie is averaging 19.8 points a game and shoots 43.8 percent from three. 

Buie is a legitimate college star for Chris Collins' team, which is 17-8 on the season and 8-6 in the Big Ten, tied for fourth with Michigan State. He also loves punishing the Hoosiers, scoring 21 and 26 points in the two meetings a year ago. He had 18 in the 2022 win against the Hoosiers as well.

It was a big deal when Buie came back to Evanston for a fifth season, and the Wildcats have played well behind him. He's passed the 2,000-point mark and he hit seven threes at Purdue on Jan. 31 — they lost in overtime — and he hit six more in a loss at Rutgers on Thursday night. So, yeah, this is a very quick turnaround for the Wildcats.

Hopefully the Hoosiers have used this week since the ugly loss at Purdue last Saturday to find a way to keep Buie in check. Indiana hasn't been very good at defending the three-point line for a lot of this season. but that's a must against Northwestern, a team that shoots 39.4 percent from beyond the arc, good for No,. 6 in the nation.

Indiana has been mostly good at home this year, going 10-3 and posting conference wins against Maryland, Ohio State, Minnesota and Penn State. But the last time out, they were boat-raced by Penn State at home 85-71 despite being 6.5-point favorites, and were booed off the court.

That effort needs to be better this Sunday for sure. Because it's the NBA's All-Star weekend in Indianapolis, several former Hoosiers are in town for the game, including last year's leaders, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Jalen Hood-Schifino and Miller Kopp, who are all in town.

This isn't exactly like Bob Knight returning to Assembly Hall in 2020, but it is kind of cool for all of those fan favorites to be back in the building.

So let's hope the Hoosiers come with max effort and get a win. There is still a lot to play for, of course. At 14-10 and 6-7 in league play, Indiana really needs to make a run and it starts with beating Northwestern and Nebraska — two pretty good teams that are top 50-ish in the NET rankings — to have a postseason resume. 

Making the NCAA Tournament seems to be a long-shot now — that Penn State loss at home was a real dagger — but there are still seven games to play, including four at home. (They play Wisconsin Feb. 27 and end the regular season March 10 against Michigan State).

There are also three winnable road games left, at Penn State, Maryland and Minnesota, so anything can happen. Indiana at its best is capable of winning all seven of those games.

We also know what can happen at their worst, though. Losing all seven isn't off the table either. We've seen enough bad stuff to know that's certainly possible.

They play them one at a time, though, and it starts on Sunday. I can see them being well prepared with all the extra practice time — just like at Illinois — and I can see them taking advantage of a depleted Northwestern team that's moving forward without Ty Berry, who's a terrific three-point shooter.

It's always fun to be in Assembly Hall, of course, and Sunday will be special with having Jackson-Davis and the guys back around. It should be a good day.

And it would be even better with a W. Hopefully, they are well prepared to do that.

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