BLOOMINGTON — On the back of a 26-0 first-half run, Indiana basketball cruised through Darian DeVries‘ unofficial Assembly Hall debut Friday night, in a 107-46 exhibition win against Marian.
Tucker DeVries paced the Hoosiers with 23 first-half points, while Trent Sisley finished with 23, as well as four made 3s.
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Here are three takeaways from fans’ first look at this year’s Hoosiers:
IU basketball has an ideal start
Even allowing for the gap in competitive level, this was about as well as Darian DeVries could’ve hoped for his home debut to unfold.
His team played at the kind of end-to-end pace he promised the day he was hired. The Hoosiers looked for those gaps in the broken floor when they pushed Marian in transition. The defense that asked a fair few questions back in the summer at one point held the Knights scoreless for nine straight minutes in the first half, around which IU constructed that dominant run.
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And then there was the 3-point line.
An encouraging evening beyond the arc for IU basketball
It is an albatross that will only be removed with time. Performances like Friday night’s should more than do the trick.
Indiana finished 15 of 30 from distance, more than once scoring points in flurries because they moved and shot the ball so well. In total, six different Hoosiers hit a 3, speaking to this team’s offensive versatility.
Sisley, DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson looked particularly dangerous, important for a team that will be hunting mismatches in DeVries’ motion-based offense this winter.
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Again, this only pays off if it sticks. But after so many years of frustration at teams that neither attempted nor made enough shots from behind the arc, surely Friday night will have felt at least like the first drops of rain after a long drought.
IU basketball freshman Trent Sisley shines again
Every time he gets the chance, the freshman from Santa Claus makes himself so difficult to ignore.
That’s been the case in open-practice settings, when Sisley has looked comfortable and confident despite the experience gap to many of his teammates. And it’s been true against live competition, whether Universidad de Bayamon, Mega Superbet or, as was the case Friday, Marian.
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Again, allow for the gap in athletic level. It’s still remarkable to see a player finish with 23 points on 8 of 10 from the floor.
There will obviously be moments this season when Sisley looks overwhelmed by older, more athletic, more talented players. It’s just part of the freshman process. But so far, he’s played beyond his age whenever he’s been given the chance. The longer he does that, the bigger his role.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana basketball score today vs Marian, Tucker DeVries stats, Trent Sisley
