Jay Edwards. Steve Alford. Calbert Cheaney. Alan Henderson. Eric Gordon.
The history of Indiana men’s basketball is brimming with prolific scoring guards who brought the fans at Assembly Hall to their feet and left headscratching would-be defenders in their wake. Lamar Wilkerson did something on Monday night that none of the guys listed above accomplished during their storied careers with the Hoosiers: he had his second 40-point game.
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Wilkerson slashed and shot his way to a 41-point outburst in the 92-74 win over Oregon, his second 40+ point performance after setting the Assembly Hall scoring record with 44 points earlier this season against Penn State.
He was the prized get for Indiana in the transfer portal this past offseason with the decision coming down to the Hoosiers or Kentucky. A final in-person visit from head coach Darian DeVries following Wilkerson’s official visit to Lexington helped seal his commitment.
It’s worked out splendidly. Wilkerson is averaging 21.2 points per game, good for second in the Big Ten, while converting on 38.7% of his attempts from 3-point range on the season, his final year of collegiate eligibility. He’s the focal point of Indiana’s offense, drawing in the defense from the perimeter and using that gravity to create opportunities for others with a career high Division-I average of 2.6 assists per game.
Beyond the on-court production, Wilkerson has given Indiana something it hasn’t had in a while: a star who’s also quite fun to watch play. That’s not to discount scorers from the past several seasons, but guard play just lends itself better to the eye than back to the basket scoring in the post. The last time Indiana had a player this watchable was probably Trayce Jackson-Davis.
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As for what’s to come, there’s no way of knowing how the season ends for Indiana and Wilkerson right now. Perhaps the Hoosiers end up dancing in March. Perhaps they don’t. One way or another, it’s gonna be fun to go back and rewatch these performances out of him.
So make sure to value them while they’re live.
