After back-to-back wins against Goshen and Mount Vernon Nazarene, IWU men’s basketball suffered another conference loss against Marian University on Saturday, losing 78-71.
That loss against the Knights has the Wildcats sitting with just three wins and six losses in the 2024-25 conference season, their worst start to conference play in the Tonagel era.
“We had some conference games back in November and December last year, and then the last couple of weeks is when we’ve had some conference games that we’ve struggled with a little bit more,” assistant coach Caleb Muthiah said.
Senior guard Griffin Kliewer said it’s in adversity when one sees teammates’ true colors and who’s bought into the program
“Our biggest thing that is to our detriment is just our chemistry, our lack of playing together,” Kliewer said. “We’ve got seven or eight new guys this year.”
Kliewer said that the coaching staff is doing their job to the best of their abilities, and he has confidence that they can figure it out.
“We’re fixing things around in practice right now, whether it’s having player meetings outside of stuff trying to figure out what the issue might be or structuring drills and practices in a way that can help us improve and focus,” Muthiah said.
Another aspect of the team’s current struggles is injuries. Transfer center Rocco Muratori is recovering from a knee injury that will keep him out the rest of this season. Junior guard Luke Brown was out last year due to a double-knee surgery and continues to have lingering effects, missing 10 games already this season.
“We have a roster of 15 guys,” Muthiah said. “We’ve been down to seven or eight for practice.”
Muthiah said that team managers and other IWU students have stepped in to help run drills and practices with the team.
What Kliewer and Brown came back to is that the team has not fully bought into the “I am Third” mentality.
“I think our little losing streak is here because we just got to buy into our culture and listen to our coaches, believe in our coaches, and have everybody fully bought in,” Brown said.
Kliewer said that before the season started, the team motto was being “Different.”
“But I think as we’re playing it out, this year has been different,” Kliewer said. “We’re facing challenges we’ve never had to face before, which I think it’s God’s way of sharpening us as not just basketball players, but as believers too.”
Brown said that the team needs to get back to how IWU wins, and that’s by culture.
“Wins are a measure of worldly success. The success we want to see is, hey, can this group grow when it comes to trust,” Muthiah said. “Can this group grow when it comes to being consistent in their lives and on the basketball court?”
As for the most recent loss to Marian, Kliewer says that they are still trying to figure out how to play as a team.
“Our team is still committed to figuring out what we can do to come together and move forward as we still feel like we have a chance to make a run,” Kliewer said.
The Wildcats have the week off before facing the second round of conference competition, starting with the three highest ranked Crossroads League foes in the national polls. The gauntlet begins with a home game against Huntington this Saturday, January 25.