INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana basketball guard Tayton Conerway sent fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse back home to Bloomington with a smile.
Conerway scored a contested go-ahead layup with eight seconds to go to give the Hoosiers a 76-74 exhibition win over Baylor on Sunday afternoon.
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Indiana led for much of the second half after erasing a double-digit deficit, but seemed to run out of gas in the final minutes with four starters playing 30-plus minutes. Coach Darian DeVries relied on just a seven-man rotation with Nick Dorn, Jason Drake, Josh Harris and Aleksa Ristic all sidelined.
Baylor had a chance to take the lead with 9.9 seconds to go, but Michael Rataj split a pair of free-throws.
Lamar Wilkerson scored a game-high 28 points (13 of 13 from the free-throw line) as one of three players in double-digits for the Hoosiers. Conerway had 15 points and a team-high five assists for the Hoosiers.
The Bears were in control early and led by as many as 13 points in the first half. They dominated at the rim with eight second-chance points, a 19-11 rebounding advantage (six offensive rebounds) and three blocks.
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The sequence that summed up the half was Baylor knocking down a 3-pointer in transition after Sam Alexis, the Hoosiers most effective big, had his shot blocked.
After shooting 50% from 3-point range in an exhibition win over Marian, Indiana went 11-plus minutes without making one against the Bears and was 1 of 8 in the first half. The Hoosiers finished the game 6 of 24 from 3-point range.
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Indiana basketball guard Lamar Wilkerson was a difference-maker against Baylor
Fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse held their breath when Lamar Wilkerson rolled his ankle in the early going. The Hoosiers came into the game already down four scholarship players and couldn’t afford losing one of their top scoring options.
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Wilkerson used the first media timeout to regroup and remained on the floor much to the dismay of Baylor. The Bears couldn’t stop the Sam Houston State transfer off the dribble and he put up 16 points in the first half without his 3-point shot falling.
He ended a four-plus minute scoring drought with a nice cut to the lane for a layup and also took a pair of charges. Tucker DeVries and Tayton Conerway picked up the slack in the second half, but Wilkerson hit a pair of early 3-pointers for the Hoosiers as they surged back in front.
Key stat from Indiana basketball’s 76-74 win over Baylor
3: Indiana basketball’s first turnover in the second half came with 8:47 to go in the game. It only turned it over two other times down the stretch.
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The Hoosiers put up 22 points off turnovers with 14 of those coming in the second half. They were able to retake the lead with Baylor turning it over on three of its first four possessions coming out of halftime.
DeVries talked throughout the offseason about the importance of having a disciplined team and only one of the teams on the floor Sunday valued the ball.
What Indiana basketball’s 76-74 win over Baylor means
Indiana fought through early shooting woes and clamped down defensively to pull out the victory. The Hoosiers also got to work on some end of game situations that will come in handy when the team gets into conference play.
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DeVries will have plenty of things to pick out from the film for his team to work on, but the progress they have made throughout the preseason was evident.
What’s up next for the Hoosiers?
The preseason is over.
Indiana opens the regular season against Alabama A&M on Nov. 5 at Assembly Hall against a Bulldogs team that hasn’t had a winning record since 2004-05. They went 10-22 last year and didn’t return any of the seven players who started 10 or more games for them last season.
The Hoosiers haven’t lost a season opener since a 90-69 loss to Indiana State in former coach Archie Miller’s debut season.
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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 Baylor
