In the middle of heavy upcoming practice schedule, Indiana focused on tweaks 'firmly within our control'

Indiana has lost three of its last four games after starting the season with seven wins in a row. Now it enters the final stretch of non-conference play with a real sense of urgency to improve on a lot of little things in order to be ready for the gauntlet of Big Ten play that gets into full swing in just three weeks.

Following Indiana’s 72-60 loss to Kentucky on Saturday, a sense of ‘back to the drawing board’ came out of the game. Not just in one area; in multiple.

The last two weeks for Indiana hasn’t been a pleasant viewing or appealing brand of basketball — and a far cry from the first month of the season. The ups and downs of Indiana’s play though still comes back to one thing; execution.

“I thought we got on our heels a little bit and didn’t play as disciplined as we needed,” Darian DeVries said after IU’s loss to Kentucky. “The crowd got cranked up and things — that’s the time where you got to really dig in a little bit more, your screen’s got to be better, you got to play off of two feet more, and then the offensive rebounds.”

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In Indiana’s three losses this year, it’s averaging 67.3 points while shooting 38.5 percent from the field and 26.2 percent from three while turning the ball over 12 times a game.

In Indiana’s eight wins, those numbers are 92.5 points with shooting splits of 52.7 percent overall, 40.9 percent from three and turning the ball over just 9.3 times per game.

The lack of execution against length, athleticism and physicality is evident with this Indiana group. Minnesota was physical. Louisville’s asset was the quickness. Kentucky, which was struggling to find an identity before Saturday, used its athleticism and a newfound physicality to punk Indiana.

“Everything we do is a first time with this group,” DeVries said. “How do you respond? How do you respond to a loss? How do you respond playing on the road? Those types of things. That’s what we’re going to have put in front of us to get to as we get to Big Ten play.”

Before Big Ten play are two more non-conference games — and more importantly, nearly three extra weeks of strictly practice time.

Indiana has a week between its loss to Kentucky and next matchup with Chicago State. Then following a quick turnaround with a Monday night matchup with Siena, it’s another two week stretch before Big Ten play resumes on January 4.

“I think we just need to really focus on our execution a little bit more on every possession,” Tucker DeVries said on Saturday. “Good thing is we get a good week here before we play again to really dial in on some of those areas that we’ve maybe lacked in the beginning.”

This group responded to the tweaks and adjustments put in place between the Louisville loss and the Penn State win. The first half against Kentucky showed carryover as well. The second half was night and day different than the first 20 mintues.

So now the next response is the next five days before it hits the floor again — and in the bigger picture, the next three weeks before heading into a critical two month season if the NCAA Tournament is the goal.

“I’m excited where this group can get to,” Darian DeVries said during Monday’s radio show. “Some ups and downs, a little bit of inconsistencies. But everything we see as we watch tape is firmly within our control. Now it’s our job to get them there. That’s what I’m most excited about.

“We have a whole week here where we can just focus on ourselves as we are getting ready before our game on Saturday then another one on Monday. Then they go home for Christmas break, come back and have another good week of practice time — so we have almost a two week practice period where we can hone in on those things to get ready for Big Ten play.”

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