BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball coach Mike Woodson told reporters that Sunday’s 76-72 loss to Northwestern came down to the “simple” fact that his team didn’t make enough open looks.

“You watched the same game I did,” Woodson said. “You got to make shots. We had some good looks and we just didn't knock them down. Nothing scientific about it.”

Woodson also called out his team’s poor performance from the free-throw line (12 of 21), five of those misses came with less than 10 minutes to go.

“A close game when you are scraping and scraping you got to make three throws, man,” Woodson said.

Look: Indiana basketball debuts new all black Fear of God Athletics uniforms from Adidas

Indiana basketball not going to be able to shoot its way out of slump

It would be easier for Indiana (14-11; 6-8 Big Ten) if an off-shooting night was to blame, but the lack of hustle and frequent mental errors were far more troubling for a team that shot the ball better than 50% in both halves.

The majority of the misses Woodson was talking about came in the first half when IU went 2 of 8 from 3-point range and nearly everyone who played in the half missed at least one uncontested shot. The Hoosiers still made more 3-pointers (six) than their season average (5.1 per game) while shooting slightly better (33%) as well.

They also had a better overall shooting percentage than Northwestern (35%) by a wide margin.

Indiana basketball limping towards finish line

Indiana basketball's best basketball came in the final minutes after Northwestern pushed its lead to 16 points.

The Wildcats showed up much earlier.

Woodson tried to explain away his team losing the majority of 50-50 balls to playing a small lineup with Malik Reneau in foul trouble. That may explain why Northwestern won the offensive rebound battle 14-6, but doesn’t explain why his players had no sense of urgency until the game’s final minutes.

“It's always good to come out at the beginning of the game with energy,” Indiana starting center Kel’el Ware said. “I feel like we lacked it a little bit, but we dug ourselves too deep of a hole in the second half to come back, which we tried to do.”

It’s not the first time an IU player has offered that kind of critique in recent weeks either.

Trey Galloway said the Hoosiers lost their intensity and focus in the second half after a 79-59 loss to Purdue just eight days ago.

More: Indiana basketball: What to know about new Fear of God alternate uniforms

Woodson previously told reporters that losing a veteran presence like Xavier Johnson (elbow) and the roster's overall lack of experience has contributed to the up-and-down nature of the season. The team has played better at Assembly Hall in front of a lively home crowd — Woodson called the arena his team’s “safe haven” earlier this season — but things aren’t trending in the right direction.

Reneau fouling out with 6:53 is an example of that.

He picked up two fouls within 30 seconds of each other in the first half and fouled out when he was called for two fouls nine seconds apart. The team’s leading scorer has played all of 16 minutes in the second half over the last two games.

Those are the same kind of mistakes Reneau was making as a true freshman last year.

“I wasn't happy with him after the game,” Woodson said.

Woodson has repeatedly pledged to keep working with this current group, but the Hoosiers don't look like they are going to get where he originally envisioned by the end of this season.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana basketball's loss to Northwestern highlights lack of progress