“What the hell is going on?”

Twice, I turned to Ethan Asofsky, one of the Daily Illini’s basketball beat writers, as we watched Illinois’ loss at Iowa on Tuesday, searching for an answer that was not readily forthcoming.

Both times were the opening stretches to halves. Both times Illinois was mired in an awful slump. Both times I was left without a good answer to the question.

Illinois began the game scoring only four points in the first 11:44, a remarkable stretch of offensive futility rife with bad shot selection, squandered fast-break opportunities and misses on any good shots that were open.

The Illini managed to stay in the game with effective defense, their active hands creating multiple Hawkeye turnovers and contesting open looks. They clawed their way back from an 11-point deficit, even managing to take a brief lead before trailing by three at the half.

But then it happened again. The second half began and the Illinois offense again resembled the immediate aftermath of the plane crash in “Lost,” the survivors roaming around with stunned looks on their faces as they took in the carnage. Iowa showed a zone press, often sinking back into a half-court zone, and the Illini looked lost. Their spacing was poor, waning shot clocks went unnoticed and it culminated in a total of three points being scored in the first 8:16 of the half as Iowa again built an 11-point lead.

To their credit, Illinois was able to fight back yet again, climbing to within two with just under five minutes remaining before the Hawkeyes slammed the door shut. But this tendency for the Illini to dig themselves holes early in halves is costing them resume-building wins.

It’s not an anomaly. In fact, it has developed into a norm on the road against quality opponents. In Illinois’ last four road games against good teams (We’re ignoring the game at Northwestern because, let’s face it, without Drew Crawford and Jared Swopshire, the Wildcats are the equivalent of a high school team. And they play in a high school gym. Those bookish nerds.), they have been outscored by double digits to open a half four times (the second half at Iowa just missed the cut, coming in eight points.)

The most glaring example occurred at No. 10 Michigan State in January, when Illinois led by 10 at the break before the Spartans roared past with a 14-0 run to start the second half. Illinois lost 80-75.

The Illini didn’t wait until the second half at Minnesota. Illinois trailed 13-2 out of the gate and 26-14 but was able to recover to lead by one at the half. This was the only one of these four games the Illini managed to win, and it came against a Golden Gopher team playing without an injured Rodney Williams.

It happened once again at No. 7 Michigan. After the Illini built a three-point halftime lead, the Wolverines erased it with a 16-3 run. Brandon Paul disappeared on offense, not even attempting a shot, and Illinois fell 71-58.

And then of course Tuesday night in Iowa City, Iowa, the openings of both halves caused most Illinois fans to ask, “What the hell is going on?” once more.

This sort of trend should not develop, particularly with a team filled with veterans. Head coach John Groce admitted as much following the game, saying he was disappointed.

The fact is, Illinois isn’t consistent enough offensively to mount the sort of comeback needed to climb out of these Shia Lebeouf-sized holes. With no inside presence (Iowa outscored Illinois 28-12 in the paint) and a flagging transition game, the Illini have nowhere to go when they need easy buckets. They simply can’t afford to fall behind by such large margins.

The road won’t get any easier on Saturday at Ohio State, which has lost only twice at home all season (to No. 4 Kansas and No. 2 Indiana no less), and is playing its best basketball of the season coming off a convincing win at Indiana. Illinois matches up well with the Buckeyes, as evident by its dominant 19-point win in early January, and has a decent shot to pull the upset.

But if the Illini find themselves in an early hole, asking, “What the hell is going on?”, chances are they won’t climb out of it.

Daniel is a senior in Media. He can be reached at [email protected] and @danielmillermc.