Marquee matchups IU wanted so badly need to be more than annual pre-Christmas humbling

ATLANTA – The dateline at the top of this piece has begun to tell a certain story, and not a welcome one for Indiana.

It’s not a Big Ten city, which means it’s a neutral site. It’s not March, which makes it a game Indiana willingly entered. And based on recent history, it won’t have been difficult to take a stab at the final score.

Mike Woodson said when he was hired he wanted his program to schedule games like Saturday’s 104-76 disassembly from Auburn.

It would show the Hoosiers (7-2) welcomed the toughest competition, on the biggest stages, where IU could prove its mettle and sharpen its focus in games that would carry no passengers.

The fact those scorelines have, in these moments, become predictable, reflects the hardest lesson Woodson can learn on days like this.

Scheduling tough is commendable. Losing consistently is a problem.

“They were the most physical team tonight,” Woodson said postgame. “In a game like this, you've got to force more turnovers, get more stops. Rebounding wasn't that big of a difference, but I just thought physically they were the better team.”

This is, roughly speaking, what these types of games have looked like across the past 2 ½ seasons.

Arizona. Kansas. UConn. Now Auburn.

Woodson has done a considerably better job of talent recruitment and roster development than his predecessor. The results, while improved, have not followed as closely as he’d hope. Saturday was just the latest evidence.

In part because of an unexpected 4-of-4 start from behind the arc, Indiana raced to a 22-10 lead. A split crowd seemed surprised — Auburn fans are used to enjoying their time in Atlanta, and IU fans haven’t learned to expect such an efficient, explosive offense.

It would not last.

Auburn used the 3-point line, its experience, its athleticism and its aggression to turn that 12-point deficit into an 18-point lead in the space of less than 13 minutes.

“They just physically took us out of everything we wanted to do, so you've got to give them credit,” Woodson said. “I'm not happy with the way we played tonight. It's kind of like a carbon copy of our UConn game. ... It was back and forth, and then finally, we just caved in.”

The Tigers (6-2) set the physical terms of Saturday’s game, and Indiana shrank rapidly away from them.

Woodson wanted games where his players had to stand up and be counted. Too often, they’ve hid instead. Saturday might have been the worst of them all.

Auburn rolled up a century’s worth of points and then some, Indiana’s defense collapsing down past its foundations. The Tigers fired up 29 3s, hitting 14. Six Auburn players finished in double figures in scoring, and two — Aden Holloway and Jaylin Williams — shared leading-scorer honors with 24 apiece.

Auburn wound up averaging 1.43 points per possession. Indiana forced just three turnovers.

“It’s definitely unacceptable,” sophomore forward Malik Reneau said.

After Indiana’s midweek win at Michigan, to confirm a 2-0 start to Big Ten play, the Peacock studio team interviewing Woodson postgame asked him what had changed from the UConn blowout to help his team win four straight.

The Huskies, he said, taught IU a certain measure of toughness. The reigning national champions delivered a lesson in how hard teams of that ambition have to work.

But Auburn isn’t UConn. Auburn is just a good, deep, well-coached team that’s got a productive blend of shooters and bigs, athletes and scrappers.

And the moment that team — one Indiana would almost certainly love to be able to copy — turned it on, the Hoosiers disappeared.

“Everybody can feel we need to get better,” freshman guard Gabe Cupps said. “This maybe can bring our team together.”

In the micro, that had better happen soon. The Hoosiers can afford to lose to Kansas next weekend but not like this. Not at home. Not inside a sold-out, expectant Assembly Hall.

And in the macro, Indiana has to find its way to being more competitive in these games. Through all possible means — recruiting, development, experience and yes, coaching — these marquee matchups Woodson wanted so badly have to evolve into something more than a pre-Christmas humbling that leaves those inside the program frustrated, and fans watching from the outside agitated and untrusting.

Otherwise, it’s just an annual reminder of the chasm Indiana still cannot bridge, between where it was and where it wants to be, and where it right now seems stuck.

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Once again Indiana basketball falls short in marquee game vs. Auburn