Indiana men’s basketball got its first Quad 1 win of the season and the first signature win of the Darian DeVries era Tuesday night, knocking off the No. 12 Purdue Boilermakers 72-67. The win brings Indiana back to .500 in Big Ten play at 5-5 halfway through the 20-game conference season.
Nick Dorn got the starting nod again, and immediately rewarded his head coach with a long 2-pointer on Indiana’s first possession. He would go on to make a pair of threes en route to eight first half points, the start of another strong performance for the Elon transfer.
It wasn’t his most efficient half, but Lamar Wilkerson led all Indiana scorers in the first 20 minutes with 11 points. He went just 2-9 from 3-point range on the night, with both makes coming on eight first half attempts. Without the three ball, Wilkerson started getting downhill for layups and kick outs, also baiting Purdue into a few fouls.
Behind a hot start from Dorn and Wilkerson, Indiana was able to get out to a 40-29 lead heading into halftime. With a full student section and the National Champion football team in attendance, Assembly Hall was rocking.
One of the main reasons that Indiana is just 5-5 in Big Ten play has been the team’s inability to play a full 40 minutes.
This issue reared its head again in the second half tonight, with the Hoosiers going on long scoring droughts and missing the front ends of one-and-ones during a stretch that could have put the game away. Despite having a 14-point lead with under 10 minutes to play, the Hoosiers found themselves clinging to a three-point lead in the final minutes.
After a timeout and a somewhat shaky inbound to Wilkerson made both free throws and Indiana finally put the game away. Wilkerson finished with 19 as Indiana’s leading scorer, followed by Dorn with 18.
The Hoosiers will bring some confidence and momentum now to their Saturday matchup against a UCLA team that also upset Purdue recently.
