Thoughts on an 82-53 loss to the Gaels:
This was an absolute drubbing. A clinic. A cut-up. A mauling. A whooping. A clock-cleaning. An epic fail.
It was also Indianaโs worst NCAA tournament loss in its history.
And so the season ends here in Portland in the round of 64, Indianaโs fifth game in eight days with an overnight flight debacle thrown in for good measure. It was an exhausting stretch.
โYou could see it on their faces,โ Gaels coach Randy Bennett said after the game. โThey were gassed probably at halftime.โ
Indiana started out well. Xavier Johnson and Trayce Jackson-Davis got it going in ball-screen action. Parker Stewart hit a 3-pointer. The Hoosiers held a four-point lead (21-17) at the 8:35 mark on a Trey Galloway runner. The bench lineup Mike Woodson has gone to the last several games before the under-8 timeout was holding serve.
When Woodson subbed back in the starters just less than two minutes later at the 6:41 mark, however, the four-point lead…