ROUNDBALL DAILY

After Maui loss to UNLV, Hoosiers once again not living up to the hype

AP Photo

AP Photo

Indiana fell to UNLV, 72-69, Wednesday in the final game of the Maui Invitational. The Hoosiers will leave the island with a 1-2 mark in the tournament, and even though losing to the Rebels is never an embarrassing thing, this trip has been a failure for IU.

Indiana has seen a lot of preseason hype over the past two years, but as they proved in Maui, the Hoosiers don’t deserve it. This group, led by highly-touted and Big Ten preseason Player of the Year Yogi Ferrell, has underachieved despite having a wealth of Top-100 talent. And, after losses to Wake Forest and UNLV, Indiana will leave the island without a quality win.

This could end up being a disastrous nonconference slate for the Hoosiers, who now look forward to a game at Duke on December 2 before a December 19 meeting with Notre Dame. They’ll have to win one of those, or their best nonconference win will end up being Creighton.

Indiana faces Alcorn State, Morehead State, IPFW, McNeese State and Kennesaw State before opening up Big Ten play. Yeesh.

As for the Rebels, they’ll leave the island at 5-1, with a close loss against UCLA being the only setback. The Indiana win could serve them well, seeing that their nonconference schedule still includes games at Wichita State, against Oregon and at Arizona. The IU win will help UNLV’s seeding should it reach the NCAA Tournament.

Not to sound like Bill Walton, but both teams will remember this game for the rest of the season.

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