After a 13-day absence Indiana basketball returned to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall to reopen Big Ten play against the Washington Huskies.
With the Hoosier football team taking all the attention in the athletic department fresh off its Rose Bowl victory, a basketball season that seemingly lacks enthusiasm still rolls on. (What a sentence that is.)
It was a must win game for Indiana as this would show a sign of life in the Big Ten and get its first top-50 KenPom win. The Huskies came in at 49 in those rankings.
Washington came into the matchup a tad bit wounded and without its second leading scorer in USC transfer Wesley Yates III who averages 14 points per game. But Washington would have plenty to throw at Indiana with future NBA pick and German national freshman Hannes Steinbach leading the way. The Big Ten Network broadcast mentioned that 27 NBA scouts were in attendance to watch Steinbach.
Thankfully for both teams, offense did not come at a premium as this game started very fast very early and that tempo stayed constant throughout the whole game as Indiana outraced Washington 90-80.
“It was just a great game for us coming back off of Christmas break and the long layoff,” head coach Darian DeVries said to Big Ten Network’s Jordan Taylor postgame. “Coming home, we had to get this one and the guys did a great job of finishing it out.”
Like a lot of other Indiana games this year, one half belonged to one or two guys and the other half belonged to another one or two guys. Tayton Conerway and Conor Enright combined for 29 points in the first half while Trent Sisley and Lamar Wilkerson combined for 28 after halftime. Wilkerson finished the contest leading Indiana in scoring with 22.
“I thought we got great contributions there from Conor and Tayton early,” DeVries said to Taylor.
“The combination of Lamar and Trent really carried us there in the second half,” DeVries said in his postgame press conference.
Indiana entered the under 16 minute timeout with some early fireworks with five 3-point makes on its first five attempts. Indiana profited from three connections from Conerway and two more from Enright. Washington answered all of those with 15 points of its own.
The under 12 minute timeout saw Indiana with a three-point lead off a Nick Dorn and-one layup at 27-24. In those eight minutes, Indiana shot 76% from the field and 71% from 3.
Indiana kept its foot on the gas, causing Washington head coach Danny Sprinkle to call a timeout at 9:19 to stop a small Hoosier run with the scoreboard reading 35-27 Indiana. The Hoosiers made six field goals in a row at the time of the timeout. That all came with no points from its leaders on the offensive side Tucker DeVries and Wilkerson.
With an 11-point lead, Indiana got Washington guard Desmond Claude to eclipse three fouls a tad before the under-4 timeout. Washington’s offense couldn’t get much going without its third-leading scorer and ended the first frame with a 52-40 deficit. The Hoosiers shot as well as they have from the field all season, shooting 66% in the first half.
Indiana started slow in the second half with just four points before the first media timeout and Washington crept back to a four-point deficit. But then Wilkerson arrived with his first 3-point make of the game and Sisley had his best stretch of his season. Sisley made his first four shots with two long balls, a floater and a reverse layup and-one. IU was on a 15-5 run. Indiana led 69-57 at the under 12.
Washington tried to climb back into the game cutting the lead to seven with just over a minute to go but a Sam Alexis put back dunk brought it back to nine. A slew of fouls turned into Washington free throws and the Huskies cut it to six with 25 seconds left. But the purple and gold were forced to foul and points 87 through 90 came from Wilkerson via the free throw line, sending the Hoosiers off into a victorious sunset.
Once again, Indiana showed that it will live and die by the long ball and on Branch McCracken Court, it certainly works well for DeVries in company, remaining undefeated on said floor. Sunday’s win was also Indiana’s ninth game with 10+ 3-point makes this season.
At home, Indiana is a tournament team. But where it will earn its way to the Big Dance will have to be on the road and beat somebody who it's not supposed to.
An intriguing matchup awaits the Hoosiers in College Park when Indiana takes on Maryland at the Xfinity Center on Wednesday. The Terps seem to be on a down year in its first under Buzz Williams, sitting at 110 in KenPom. However, inside that ruckus arena is still a challenge for any Big Ten team.
