BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball cruised to an easy 107-46 win over Marian on Friday night in an exhibition game at Assembly Hall to kick off the Darian DeVries-era.
The Hoosiers jumped out to a 31-4 lead with a 26-0 run in the first half while holding Marian without a field goal for 11-plus minutes. The Hoosiers went 8 of 10 from the floor with four different players knocking down at least one long distance shot to build a comfortable advantage.
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Indiana led by 43 points at the half after shooting 64.9% from the field with 17 assists on 24 field goals. The Hoosiers knocked down as many 3-pointers (12) as they did in a full game all last season. They had eight different players score at least one field goal.
The second half wasn’t as pretty with IU’s walk-ons big minutes to close out the game. The Hoosiers had four scholarship players Nick Dorn, Jason Drake, Josh Harris and Aleksa Ristic sidelined with lower body injuries. Darian DeVries couldn’t afford to risk losing another player to injury and managed the minutes of his starters accordingly.
Indiana forward Tucker DeVries led all scorers with 23 points despite not attempting a shot in the second half. Sam Alexis had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds as one of three other players in double-digits for the Hoosiers.
More: Indiana basketball leaning on former JUCO players who exhausted their eligibility
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Indiana basketball’s difference-makers against Marian
Tucker DeVries
Indiana forward Tucker DeVries scored his team’s first seven points with a scoring outburst that highlighted his offensive versatility.
He hit a 3-pointer from the corner, knocked down a mid-range jumper and scored a layup on a nice cut to the basket. He added a pair of deep 3-pointers during IU’s extended first-half scoring run.
DeVries looked comfortable from the jump even as his new teammates needed a few minutes to settle into their new digs. He set the standard on defense as well and drew the biggest cheers of the night for forcing turnovers near midcourt on back-to-back possessions with IU up by more than 40 points at the end of the half.
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The fans at Assembly Hall appreciated the hustle from IU’s best player who went into halftime with 23 points with four rebounds, four assists and two steals. He didn’t attempt a shot while playing just six minutes in the second half.
Trent Sisley
Trent Sisley looked like a veteran role-player on Friday night as one of just two true freshman who suited up for the Hoosiers.
He made an immediate impact off the bench after the first media timeout with multiple put backs and remained on the floor for six minutes that helped IU push its lead to 20-plus points. The Santa Claus native made a heady play when multiple defenders crashed down to defend him on a drive through the lane with a sneaky pass to set up Sam Alexis for an easy dunk.
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Sisley showed his range throughout the game — he knocked down a pair of 3-pointers from the corner right in front of Marian’s bench late in the first half and finished the game 4 of 4 from long range. He filled up the stat sheet with 23 points (8 of 10), six rebounds and three assists.
Key stat from Indiana basketball’s 107-46 win over Marian
15: Indiana knocked down its most 3-pointers in a game since the 2016-17 season on Friday night on 15 of 30 shooting (50.0%). The most 3-pointers IU hit in a single-game during Mike Woodson’s four-year tenure as coach was 12 (twice). The Hoosiers only attempted 30 or more attempts once in Woodson’s 135-game tenure. Indiana had six different players connect from 3-point range and 10 different players attempt at least one long distance shot.
What Indiana basketball’s win over Marian means
Beating up on Marian has become something of an annual tradition for the Hoosiers, but the exhibition game on Friday night took on the added significance of being a hard reset from the Mike Woodson era. DeVries didn’t bring back a single scholarship player from last year’s team and debuted an up-tempo, free-flowing offense the fans in Bloomington haven’t seen in years.
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DeVries told reporters at Big Ten Media Day that pretty much everybody on the roster had a green light to shoot the ball and the product on the court beared that out. If IU had an open 3-point look against Marian, they took it, no matter how much time was left on the shot clock or how deep behind the arc the player was.
It should also give the Hoosiers confidence they are headed in the right direction as a group having played a solid game on both ends of the floor.
What’s up next for the Hoosiers?
Indiana gets more than a week to prepare for its second and final exhibition against Baylor at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. It will give the team an opportunity to get used to playing at the venue that will host a regular-season game between the Hoosiers and Louisville on Dec. 6.
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The Bears will also pit IU against an opponent that’s won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament each of the last five seasons, but isn’t returning a single player who saw the floor last season.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Instant analysis of Indiana basketball’s exhibition win over Marian
