First half v. second half in the Lynch era.

One of the major criticisms of Bill Lynch, particularly in the last two seasons, has been the Hoosiers' play in the second half of games.  How does this break down season-by season?

First, here's the 2007 schedule, broken down by first half, second half, and final score.

Next, here's a table that looks a little closer at those results.  What I mean by "first half record" and "second half record" is whether IU outscored the opponent in the half.  For example, last weekend, IU won the first half 28-17 and lost the second half 12-0.  In any event:

What can we draw from 2007?  Not much.  IU scored modestly more points in the first half than in the second half, allowed modestly fewer points in the second half than in the first half, played close to dead-even ball in both halves, and the "first half record" and "second half record" reasonably approximate the overall record.  IU blew one halftime lead (at Northwestern, ugh), didn't overcome a halftime deficit, and won the only game that was tied at halftime (Akron).

Here's the 2008 schedule, which was much uglier, of course, and is broken down in the same way:

And here's the table with a further breakdown of 2008.

Here, we do begin to see the perception become reality.  IU's first-half scoring deficit, when averaged across games, was less than three points per game.  Still, nearly 70 percent of IU's scoring game in the first half, and IU allowed just more than half of its points allowed in the second half.  Still, the first half record and the second half records both continue to approximate IU's overall record.  In other words, this IU team was so bad that the abysmal second half performance, while tough to watch, didn't have much impact on the win/loss record. 

Finally, where do the Hoosiers stand in 2009?  Here's the schedule to date:

And the further breakdown:

This season shows a similar point distribution to 2008, at least on offense.  IU scores nearly two thirds of its points in the first half.  On the other hand, the disparity between first half and the second half is pretty similar.  IU is close to even in both halves.  Still, and for the first time in the Lynch era, there is a significant disparity between the overall record and the first half/second half records.  IU has led at halftime in 6 of 8 games, but has blown two of the halftime leads and has been outscored in the second half in 6 of 8 games.  So, while the complete lack of competitiveness demonstrated in the second half in 2008 hasn't yet manifested itself (well, it did last week, but not as much overall), for the first time, the second half performance has had a major impact on the W/L record.  A few other notes from this data: