In an attempt to break a two-game skid, Indiana shot the lights out of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in the first Big Ten win of the Darian DeVries era. The Hoosiers took down Penn State 113–72 on Tuesday night in what became one of the most explosive offensive performances in program history.
In the recent losses to Minnesota and Louisville, IU averaged just 30 percent from beyond the arc. On Tuesday night, that storyline vanished almost immediately.
From the jump, Indiana came out scorching. Lamar Wilkerson hit a trio of 3s and Tayton Conerway added another before the first media timeout, giving IU a 12–7 edge and igniting a crowd eager to see a response. After Kayden Mingo converted a 3-point play to pull Penn State within five, the Hoosiers responded with a 6–0 burst to make it 23–12. By the time the under-eight media timeout arrived, Indiana had ripped off a 20–2 run, capped by a Nick Dorn corner 3, stretching the lead to 37–14 and blowing the roof off Assembly Hall.
At halftime, Indiana led 58–26 behind 68 percent shooting, including 7-for-15 from deep and a near-perfect 13-for-15 at the rim. The Hoosiers also turned Penn State’s 11 first-half turnovers into 20 points, assisting on 16 of their 23 makes while holding the Nittany Lions to just nine field goals.
Afterward, Wilkerson admitted the past two games had been tough mentally, but said his teammates kept him locked in.
“Shoot the ball, and everything’s going to work out,” Wilkerson said. “It’s a numbers game.”
Wilkerson was nothing short of historic. Breaking Indiana’s single-game 3-point record—previously stuck in a three-way tie since 2018—the Sam Houston State transfer erupted for 44 points on 16-for-22 shooting, including 10-for-15 from behind the arc. He scored 20 in the first half alone and even went on a personal 9–0 run, burying three straight 3s that turned the game into a rout.
His 44 points also set a new scoring record on Branch McCracken Court, surpassing Trayce Jackson-Davis’s 43-point performance against Marshall in 2021.
Indiana’s scoring output carried historic weight. The 113 points marked the program’s highest total in a Big Ten game since Feb. 17, 1990, when the Hoosiers scored 118 against Iowa in an Assembly Hall win.
The second half offered no relief for Penn State. Indiana opened on a 15–2 run, with Wilkerson hitting all four of his 3-point attempts before the first media timeout. IU’s lead ballooned to 78–34, then 81–34 as Wilkerson tied the program’s single-game 3-point record with over 14 minutes to play. His 10th triple officially established the new mark. As Darian DeVries put it, “It was fun to see him get loose and showcase the work that he puts in.”
Tayton Conerway and Reed Bailey each reached double figures as well, and Sam Alexis—starting for the first time since his sophomore year at Chattanooga—anchored the paint with his physicality and defensive presence. Bailey, who had opened all nine games this season in the starting lineup, contributed 15 off the bench and helped Indiana stretch the margin to 94–50 by the under-eight timeout. Bailey said the team was determined to return to form after the Louisville loss, emphasizing DeVries’ message to, “keep being themselves… playing with an edge, playing with effort, having fun.”
By night’s end, the Hoosiers finished 17-for-31 from deep (54.8 percent) and scored an astounding 1.54 points per possession. Indiana’s 113 points marked its highest total under DeVries and reaffirmed the offensive identity that powered its early-season surge.
The victory moves Indiana to 8–2 and resets the momentum heading into a massive road test. Up next is a trip to Lexington to face Kentucky at Rupp Arena on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
