IU-Northwestern Postgame Show

Indiana continued its frustrating pattern of inconsistency on Tuesday night, falling 79-70 at Northwestern for their fifth straight loss to the Wildcats. After building a six-point halftime lead with an 18-2 run to close the first half, IU's defense completely fell apart after intermission as Northwestern scored 54 second-half points on a blistering 62.5% shooting.
While Indiana showed brief signs of life with a 10-0 second-half run to take a 52-49 lead, Northwestern responded with a devastating 21-4 run that effectively ended any hopes of IU's first win in Evanston since 2019. The loss drops Indiana to 14-6 (5-4 B1G).
Key Talking Points:
• Northwestern torched IU's defense for 1.69 points per possession in the second half
• Four Wildcats (Barnheizer, Martinelli, Barry, Leach) combined for 77 of Northwestern's 79 points
• IU's offense remained overly reliant on contested mid-range jumpers while Northwestern generated clean looks
• Malik Reneau showed significant rust in his return, going 0-6 in 11 limited minutes
• Another game defined by IU's inability to sustain positive momentum when taking leads
Plus, as always, the Banner Moment, Meaningful Moments You Might Have Missed, Inside the Numbers, and our Game Balls, Hustle Award, and Lingering Questions. That's all in this edition of The Assembly Call.
On the mics: Andy Bottoms, Coach Brian Tonsoni, and Josh Pos

[@oevans23]

Funny how the game got away from us when Malik and Ballo were on the court together, Woody may never learn

[@toddrennie4961]

Thanks for the show guys, I know nights like this aren’t easy.

[@rynefulton8410]

Great Pnt Coach T. We started with a decent gameplan. And of course Collin’s adjusts. And we don’t have any counter prepared to turn to..

[@jasonspiegel6302]

The players have no feel for the game nor does the head coach. How easy is it to out coach this guy? All it takes is one adjustment and Indiana is toast. It's for the best to lose as many games as possible to get the entire staff out!! Reneau played way too much during crucial minutes.

[@douglascarlson9006]

Last year Robbie Hummel astutely noted that: "IU's defense is in a constant state of rotation" ... And now here we are one year later with a new core of players having the same problem ... After 20 gams, it's now easy to nail Woodson as being ineffective at getting his team to play "team defense" ... This is a relatively slow-footed bunch who close-out so poorly on 3s that their opponents actually plan on it ... This will be remembered as Woodson's downfall ...

[@rynefulton8410]

NW has 1 3pnt shooter…I knew this last yr and I knew it again going into this game…WTH didn’t one of the coaches know this. Berry is only one and we just let him have open look after open look

[@jamesknoblett236]

Are we really better than NW though?

[@jasonspiegel6302]

Effort was OK? Are you serious?? These guys aren't interested enough to play with the intensity it takes to overtime their stupidity and the staff?'s stupidity.

[@jaredsmall6752]

Zero chance this IU team is better than this Northwestern team. That was a joke of a statement. Ballo is SOFT. Gallaway doesnt guard or do anything. Northwestern's defense is better,, they have better shooters and better players that have more heart.

[@jaredsmall6752]

ALSO! Northwestern out rebounded IU, less turnovers, more steals, etc.

[@Schuyler98]

I’m losing interest in this show because of the lack of criticism for this team. At least Ryan will rant on them and even then they tell him to “be more positive”. it’s like watching the Colts official podcast. both shows don’t criticize nearly enough and pat them on the back for the few good moments they have. That isn’t acceptable and we don’t want to hear them be praised anymore. the talent on this team is great but we can’t even beat Winthrop by 10+. We should be beating mid majors by 30+. this is just embarrassing. A good team would’ve throttled NW tonight when they couldn’t make a shot for 9 minutes. but IU only went up by 6. and then Woody said we played a good first half. Bull FUCKING shit

[@mosesrambam2815]

Guys this is pro sports now, which means it’s controlled. Commenting on it like it’s a real athletic competition is delusional behavior.

[@Schuyler98]

shut up please

[@eagleeye761]

entertainment...

[@yadiz5674]

Woodson, simply can't coach.