For a team that was eliminated from the Big Ten tournament in the semifinals Saturday and has lost four of its last eight games, The Associated Press national men’s basketball poll was kind to Indiana this week, and so was the NCAA selection committee.

On Sunday night, IU was given a No. 4 seed in the Midwest regional to play against Kent State in Albany, New York, on Friday night. Then the Hoosiers woke up Monday morning still generously ranked No. 21 in the country.

Mix that together with an overall 22-11 record and there is no reason to be particularly gung-ho about their chances either of defeating the Mid-America champ Golden Flashes, 28-6, or anyone else. But given the split-personality nature of the Hoosiers within games, they could also win against any foe popping up in their way.

All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis always shows up to terrorize opposing defenses for 20.8 points and 11 rebounds a game, but his teammates have been erratic, sometimes excelling, sometimes slipping into a lull. Mike Woodson, who has taken the team to the NCAAs in both of his seasons as coach, knows nothing will come easy in the tournament.

“Each and every game you go out, it’s a game of inches in tournament play,” Woodson said. “I mean, nobody wants to go home in March Madness, and I get it. That’s why you’ve got to be ready to play every minute, every second of every game that you get an opportunity to play.”

Last year, the Hoosiers were in a First Four play-in game and had to rush to a far-flung next location for a game. This year’s showing, featuring two victories over No. 5-ranked Purdue, which received a No. 1 seed, made their travel part easier.

There is no reason to think the games will be, though. The Hoosiers must smooth out the rough edges they have shown in up-and-down stretches that prevented them from putting some teams away and cost them winnable games. For the seniors finishing IU play, just making it into the NCAAs last year was a big deal. Now, they want to leave a mark.

“We worked all summer, all year for this,” said forward Race Thompson, who averages 7.9 points and 5.0 rebounds a game. “Last year being a play-in game, we kind of got a taste of it.”

League freshman of the year Jalen Hood-Schifino has averaged 13.5 points, and senior Miller Kopp has hit 44.3% of his three-pointers. Several players have made critical contributions, Trey Galloway with his hustle, Malik Reneau with his rebounding, Tamar Bates with his defensive intensity and long-range shooting.

However, if a few had buttressed Jackson-Davis consistently, IU might have picked off additional wins. There have been recent close losses to Northwestern and Penn State and clunkers (especially) against Iowa and Michigan State.

Kent State is coached by former IU assistant Rob Senderoff, who worked under Kelvin Sampson in Bloomington. The Golden Flashes are not ranked but received votes in the weekly poll.

“We are not going to take them lightly,” Jackson-Davis said. “They are a great team. Obviously, they are here for a reason, so we’ve got to play basketball.”

Woodson had no particular insight about Kent State when they were announced as a first-round opponent but said it is likely the Golden Flashes will bring the house defensively to stymie Jackson-Davis.

“It can be a tough cover,” Woodson said of foes coping with Jackson-Davis’ inside moves. “But make no mistake, Kent State will do their homework on our ball club. At the end of the day, he’s still going to be double-teamed like he has been all season because of the fact he’s good at what he does in terms of putting the ball in the hole and making plays for people around him.”

Jackson-Davis may be a 6-foot-9 big guy, but his court vision has drastically improved in response to being surrounded by defenders, and he averages 4.1 assists. His play has been fierce, and he aggressively leads the team.

In this tournament, as Jackson-Davis, Thompson and Kopp’s time wearing IU uniforms winds down to a game-by-game thing, everyone else’s attitude must be on the same page as Jackson-Davis. Thompson said it will be.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that every single game, I’m leaving it out on the court,” Thompson said. “And I have no doubt, I bet everybody else will do the same.”

Lew Freedman writes sports columns for The Tribune. Send comments to [email protected].