BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana center George Leach rocked the rim on an uncontested dunk five minutes into the first half Wednesday night, and Northwestern coach Bill Carmody had to greet his listless squad for the first time.

Down 11-0, NU’s fate was sealed with 35 minutes to play — if it wasn’t before the team got to Bloomington. The only question left was what tomorrow’s headline would read: “Hoosiers drain outside shots, Cats.” “Indiana dominates boards against undersized NU.” “Without leading scorer Bracey Wright, IU still rolls.”

NU kicked off the game by allowing the Hoosiers an offensive board off a Kyle Hornsby miss. A minute later, Cats guard T.J. Parker threw a tentative pass that Indiana guard Tom Coverdale stole at midcourt.

Moments later, forward Winston Blake timidly threw up a short baseline jumper that landed a full foot short of the rim. On the other end, Coverdale hit a wide open three to the delight of the 17,086 on hand.

NU’s first five minutes of basketball blunders should have driven Carmody to a Mike Davis-like on-court tirade — this one directed at his players. But instead, the NU coach chose the stoic approach, staring at his starters with disappointment and bewilderment.

Who, or what, spurred this collapse?

Poor rebounding? The Cats were outboarded 30-16 in the game.

Poor perimeter defense? Hornsby hit six

treys, many of which were wide open looks handed to him by a sagging NU defense, and the Hoosiers were 13 of 22 from behind the arc.

Or should we point fingers? With four of NU’s starters carrying their weight on offense, Blake, a former team leader, had another forgettable game, inspiring little confidence with uncertain drives and off-balance misses. Blake missed all four shots he took and was benched for most of the second half. Carmody couldn’t manage to glance in Blake’s direction after yanking him out midway through the second session.

But of course, being a no-excuses coach, Carmody chose to blame himself.

“Probably my damn talks,” he said with a smirk, regarding his team’s opening woes.

Still, Carmody’s words during the first timeout inspired better play in his team, as the Cats played Indiana to a virtual tie for the remainder of the half. But this was the wrong place and the wrong night to start slowly — in a hostile arena against a team coming off a loss.

And the Cats were done before you could say “TV timeout.”

Elia Powers is a Medill senior. He can be reached at [email protected]