I went into the office yesterday and panicked when I realized that Indiana was playing Illinois at 2:00. I contemplated running home to watch the game, hoping that the Hoosiers’ solid performances against Iowa and Michigan had been harbingers of future good play from these young and undermanned Hoosiers. I was informed that the game would be replayed on the Big Ten Network at 10:00, so I decided to insulate myself from any word about the game and watch it at 10:00.
To put it mildly, it most certainly was not worth the wait.
Illinois jumped on the Hoosiers early and never really looked back, winning 76-45. This is a matchup that has become a very heated rivalry, and has produced many great games over the last few years and throughout history. Last night’s will probably go down as the least competitive of them all.
To make matters worse, the Hoosiers’ best scorer Devan Dumes left the game after suffering an ankle injury. Dumes did not start the game, which we later found out was because he was late to the bus that took the Hoosiers from their hotel to Illinois’ (lesser) version of Assembly Hall. After entering the game in the first half, with the outcome pretty much already decided after the furious burst to start the game by the Illini, Dumes came down awkwardly on his ankle.
Here is the latest Devan Dumes injury update, courtesy of The Hoosier report:
The worst part of the game was the injury to Devan Dumes. This morning, WTHR-TV reported that Dumes was seen on crutches after the game after landing badly on his ankle during the Illinois game. It’s hard to imagine IU winning a conference game in which Dumes doesn’t play.
That last sentence is the scariest part of Dumes’ potentially missing any time. After our solid play at Iowa and at home against Michigan I started to believe that the Hoosiers could pull out a few conference victories at home. Without Devan Dumes, I don’t know where our scoring will come from. Nick Williams did all he could yesterday, and every now and then we can hit some threes when Matt Roth gets hot, but Devan Dumes is the one guy who can create his own shot.
We absolutely have to have Devan Dumes healthy to be competitive, and I don’t really think it’s a debate.
Last night’s game is one these young Hoosiers should learn from, and then just put out of their mind. They also need to realize, as do IU fans, that there will be more such blowouts when we go on the road against top-tier teams in the Big Ten. I still believe the Hoosiers and Tom Crean can pull off one or two wins in Bloomington, and I really enjoy watching this team because, for the most part, they play with heart and never stop fighting.
Against Illinois last night, we saw a little bit of the frustration that should probably have been expected after the heartbreaking loss to Michigan; and the team did not seem to have the fight it usually has. I’m going to chalk it up to youth and move forward expecting better things in the future.
And the first “better thing” I hope to see is a more positive injury update about Devan Dumes moving forward. We need him on the floor.
What do you think?
Loading ...
About Jerod Morris
