The Indiana basketball team lost a tough one on the road on Tuesday night against Rutgers basketball. The Hoosiers had the lead for a good portion of the second half, but the Scarlet Knights defense clamped down in the second half, and they were able to create a comfortable lead. Indiana made things close again towards the end of the game, but at the end of the day, Rutgers was too much. The Hoosiers fell 66-57, and one player that is taking the heat for the loss is Xavier Johnson.

Xavier Johnson was ejected from the game on Tuesday when Indiana basketball was down by just four points, and things got worse from the Hoosiers after he went out. Johnson reached into the groin area of a Rutgers player as he was going around a screen, and that was the play that cost him the rest of the game. A lot of people have discussed the game, and the announcers even noted that the Indiana team just didn't look good out on the court.

“The body language for the Indiana players is so poor,” Peacock analyst Stephen Bardo said during the game. “They almost look defeated.”

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No Indiana basketball player got more blame than Johnson, however. The Indy Star gave out reviews for every player from the game, and they had a lot to say about Johnson's poor performance.

“After receiving a game ball for his good work against Ohio State, Johnson had an abysmal first 17 minutes vs. Rutgers,” The review said. “He was 0-for-3 from the field and committed four of IU's 11 first-half turnovers, including one with 5 seconds left when IU had a chance to go into halftime with the lead and instead, his careless giveaway resulted in a Rutgers 3 and a halftime deficit. It was clear to see he was trying to do too much and seemingly trying to make up for lost time. Believe it or not, it got worse. Johnson was ejected with 13 minutes left for a flagrant 2 after he was judged to have delivered a low blow to Rutgers' Antwone Woolfolk, who was actually called for a foul on the play before the refs went to the monitor to see why Woolfolk shoved Johnson to the court. IU has very little margin for error, and it can't make up for dumb decisions like this by a team captain and sixth-year point guard. Rating: 0.0”

Xavier Johnson has to be better. After the loss, Indiana is now 11-5 on the season overall and 3-2 in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers are back in action on Friday at home against Minnesota.