Indiana men’s basketball escaped an upset attempt from Incarnate Word in a 69-61 win on Sunday night at Assembly Hall.
It wasn’t a pretty basketball game and was the first time we’ve seen the Hoosiers struggle under Darian DeVries. Much of that can be attributed to the fact that Indiana’s 3s just weren’t going down, but there were enough defensive issues in the closing minutes that kept the Cardinals in the game.
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This one could loom later or be forgotten. For now, all we know is what’s in front of us. Here’s five things we learned from the game:
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3-point shooting is gonna keep Indiana in plenty of games. It’s also gonna be a problem. Indiana had a fantastic start to the season shooting the basketball, going 3-0 and winning by large margins while never scoring less than 90 points. That has, and will, lead to future blowouts. When those shots aren’t falling, Indiana’s gonna have to tighten up and ground out some wins. The Hoosiers shot just 20.8% from long range tonight as Lamar Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries were held to just 9 and 14 points, respectively. It was rough, and serves as a necessary reminder that this style of play can hit a wall.
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Indiana’s bigs were able to find some success when they got the ball. Reed Bailey went 3/4 from the field and Sam Alexis, off the bench, went 5/7 and got to the line reliably enough to add on six points. Indiana wasn’t able to get those two the ball as often as it probably should’ve, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens the next time the shots aren’t falling.
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Incarnate Word was playing out of its mind in the closing minutes and outscored Indiana 42-34 in the second half after putting up just 19 points in the first. The Cardinals went 6/13 from deep in the second half and seemed to find a shot whenever the Hoosiers started to seemingly build up a lead. Indiana had some defensive issues, but it’s a credit to the Cardinals.
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Trent Sisley was an incredibly necessary spark plug off the bench, scoring 10 points and pulling down eight rebounds in 20 minutes of play. Indiana’s going to need him to continue showing up in relief like that.
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The offense has to find an answer when the 3s aren’t falling. Good shooters shouldn’t stop taking good shots, but Indiana was able to find looks at the rim in the first that just didn’t show up in the second. There was a way to make this more comfortable and Indiana has to find it soon.
