LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — It’s the first Saturday in March. Adrenaline should be flowing. Speculation belongs in the air.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Except this year it isn’t. Not at Kentucky, which beat South Carolina 92-64 on Saturday. Not at Indiana, which lost 67-58 at Purdue.
Unless the Wildcats and the Hoosiers win their conference tournaments, neither program will compete in the 2021 NCAA Tournament — in a year of raging mediocrity when both programs were once projected to make the field.
So instead of debating which program can make a deeper conference tournament run, let’s debate this: Which program delivered a more embarrassing season?
Kentucky, which started the season ranked No. 10 nationally but will finish No. 8 or 9 in the Southeastern Conference?
Or Indiana, which has not played an NCAA Tournament game since March 25, 2016?
Kentucky, which is still likely to have two players taken in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft?
Or Indiana, which starts three upperclassmen and features one of 15 finalists for the John R. Wooden Award?
Kentucky, which lost six times in Rupp Arena?
Indiana, which lost six times in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall?
Kentucky, which stumbled against Georgia, Auburn and Notre Dame?
Or Indiana, which lost for the ninth straight time to Purdue?
Give me Indiana, now 12-14 and 7-12 in the Big Ten.
Four years into the Archie Miller era, and the Hoosiers have made 3-point shooting look more difficult than translating the Serbian Constitution.
Shooters have gone the way of pay telephones in Bloomington, Indiana. They’re extinct. In the last two games, Indiana made 7 of 43 shots from distance, a rousing 16.3%. In an era of college hoops where perimeter shooting is the rage, I believe that qualifies as embarrassing.
Toughness and defense were two qualities Miller preached would be Indiana’s calling card when he took over from Tom Crean in 2017.
Wrong.
Long, impossible-to-overcome stretches of basketball without points have been the trademark. Didn’t matter if the Hoosiers had Robert Johnson, Romeo Langford, Juwan Morgan, Trayce-Jackson Davis or Wally The Walk-On.
Against Purdue, Indiana led, 7-0. It wasn’t long before the Hoosiers went nearly 7½ minutes without a field goal. In the second half, when the Hoosiers never led, IU endured a stretch where it made a single shot in more than six minutes of play.
Indiana has lost more than games. It has lost hope. Even former Indiana players, like the superb Alan Henderson, have noticed.
🤦🏾♂️
— Alan Henderson (@44AlanHenderson) March 6, 2021
The Hoosiers lost their last five and six of their final seven. Saturday's loss to Purdue marked the third straight game in which they failed to crack 60 points. That’s happened to IU a half-dozen times this season, all losses. It’s difficult to win without shooters, and Miller has neither prioritized nor developed shooters.
But let there be debate.
My sidekick at WDRB, Eric Crawford, disagreed. So did Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated.
I posed the question to Crawford on Saturday afternoon. This is what Eric said: "1. Kentucky. 2. Kentucky. 3. Kentucky."
Explain, sir.
"Kentucky always enters seasons with more hype," Crawford said. "And it doesn’t shy away from that hype.
"When you’re preseason No. 10 and fail to win 10 games, it’s a flop."
Forde also selected John Calipari’s team.
"Kentucky, no question," he said. "And that’s not to spare Indiana.
"It’s Kentucky’s worst record since 1927. I think that’s the trump card.
"Kentucky could still end up with two or three first-round draft picks. While going 9-15, that’s a wildly dysfunctional team."
True. True. And true.
But as forgettable as Kentucky has been shooting and handling the ball this season, the Wildcats have also looked like a team capable of putting together a bit on a run at the SEC Tournament next week in Nashville, Tennessee.
Davion Mintz has been solid. B.J. Boston’s shooting stroke is on the uptick. Isaiah Jackson can defend the area around the rim with anybody. The Wildcats have not played as if they are ready to surrender.
The Wildcats' 3-point shooting has improved. They have made progress on their issues with turnovers.
Indiana has checked out. The Hoosiers have not won since Feb. 17, when they beat Minnesota — another team that checked out. That also qualifies as embarrassing.
The only call left for the Hoosiers is whether athletic director Scott Dolson, a former IU student manager under Bob Knight, has seen enough and decided the time has come to make a change in the coaching position.
Kentucky does not have to deal with that issue. Chances are that Calipari will fix what ailed his program this season. Expect Kentucky to be ambitious and successful in the transfer market.
Kentucky won’t be embarrassed again. Indiana basketball cannot say that. Some people would call that embarrassing, too.
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