In a break in the shootaround the day before Indiana’s opening round game in the NCAA tournament, interim coach Dan Dakich noticed fans at the RBC Center looked bored so he brought young fans on the court and entertained the crowd with a few free throws.
Nothing else could have been described as boring for the eighth-seeded Hoosiers this season, which ended Friday night in an 86-72 loss to No. 9-seed Arkansas in the first round of the East regional.
“Boring” probably won’t be an adjective attached to the Hoosiers for quite some time as they spend the off-season trying to patch together the pieces from this shattered season where so much hope turned to rubble.
Arkansas (23-11) advances to face No. 1 seed North Carolina, a 113-74 first-round winner over No. 16 seed Mt. St. Mary, on Sunday in the second round.
The fact the Hoosiers (25-8) were playing without much contribution from freshman sensation Eric Gordon only added to the perplexity of a season that spiraled down the tubes.
The game may have been Gordon’s last in an Indiana uniform as many predict he will enter the NBA draft.
If that’s the case, his last game for the Hoosiers won’t be the one he will want to remember.
Gordon, who averages 21.3 points per game, had just eight on 3-of-15 shooting, including missing all six of his three-pointers, and did not score in the second half until a dunk at the 10:03 mark.
Gordon had been held to single digits only once this season, scoring eight points on Dec. 3 against Tennessee State. His shooting percentage has dwindled since coach Kelvin Sampson was forced to resign and Dakich took over.
With the rest of the Hoosiers shooting like they were wearing handcuffs, senior D.J. White and Armon Bassett were on a mission to keep the Hoosiers in Raleigh until Sunday. White scored 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting with nine rebounds and Bassett had 21 on 7-of-9 shooting.
The trouble was that Arkansas’ Sonny Weems and Darian Townes were equally inspiring.
The duo finished with 48 combined points. Weems had a game-high 31 on 12-of-14 shooting with Townes chipping in 17 points and 12 rebounds.
The Hoosiers started the season 16-1 and expectations mounted with every big game by Gordon.
They were predicted to make their first Final Four appearance in six years, but allegations of NCAA recruiting violations, a coaching change, a player walk-out on practice, a threatened player boycott and a quick exit from the Big Ten tournament and their promising season resembled plummeting stocks.
Before entering the tournament, Indiana had gone 3-3 after Sampson resigned during the investigation and Dakich took over.
Now uncertainty hangs over Bloomington like a gloomy Midwestern day.
Still, Dakich had said he never questioned the Hoosiers’ concentration or confidence as they entered the tournament.
Dakich never questioned whether the Hoosiers’ minds would be too frazzled and confidence too rattled to handle the rigors of the tournament.
“I have had no problems with their frame of mind going into games,” Dakich said Thursday. “They have prepared. They have put themselves in positions to win every game.”
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sryan@tribune.com
