Indiana men’s basketball went from cruising against archrival Purdue to pure survival mode.
IU fully controlled the first three quarters of Tuesday’s big game against the 12th-ranked Boilermakers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers looked to be in good position to pick up their biggest win of the season, as they knocked down outside shots, held their own in the rebounding battle, limited their own mistakes and forced enough from Purdue.
But basketball games can change very quickly. Indiana’s shots stopped falling, Purdue found a groove, and things got nervy in the second half of the second half. IU led by as much as 14 points, at multiple points in Tuesday’s game; but the Boilermakers compiled a 16-6 run over an eight-minute stretch to cut their deficit to just two points late.
But Indiana head coach Darian DeVries saw his team respond in crunch time and do enough to survive. The Hoosiers earned their first quad-one win of the year, and their third home win over their biggest rival in the last four meetings in Bloomington, 72-67.
“Those last two minutes, for a team that hasn’t been in a lot of those situations together as a group — two minutes to go, big game, coming down to the wire — I thought guys made some really big plays,” DeVries said after the game. “We did what we were supposed to do. We got fouled. We got to the free-throw line. We took care of the ball. We got a couple of big stops in there to finish it off. So I thought their execution down the stretch was great.”
Fifth-year senior Lamar Wilkerson (19 points) and junior Nick Dorn (18 points) carried the load for most of the game for Indiana on Tuesday. Redshirt senior Tucker DeVries (nine points, 10 rebounds) made some big plays throughout the night.
But as the contest neared its conclusion, it was redshirt senior Conor Enright who stepped up. He’d averaged only 4.5 points on the season entering Tuesday, but Indiana doesn’t win this game without him.
Purdue star Braden Smith made a layup to bring his team within two with 1:28 remaining. Once the Hoosiers got set on the other end, Tucker DeVries passed to Enright on the wing in front of their bench.
At that point, he’d scored only three points in the game — he’d dished eight assists and played a crucial defensive role against Smith, but he was hardly the biggest threat to the Boilermakers.
But he had space on this play, in part because of a Wilkerson screen. And Enright pulled up for the 3-pointer with no hesitation, as confident a stroke as any player fired all night.
The shot was so perfect, the net barely moved as the ball went through.
Enright said his mind was blank in that moment.
“Honestly, I make them more when I think less,” Enright said. “It’s pretty easy, too, when I’ve got Nick, Tucker and Lamar hitting shots. So, I get open ones. So, just let that one fly.”
Enright’s clutch 3-pointer wasn’t his only contribution down the stretch.
Part of the reason IU was in this position — staving off Purdue after previously leading by 14 — was some trouble at the foul line. Indiana missed the front end of one-and-ones three times in the final segment of the game, after the under-four media timeout. Those points — and extra opportunities at the free-throw line — would’ve helped IU prevent PU from getting within one possession.
Enright stepped up for two free throws coming off those three straight misses, and he knocked down two big ones. That extended IU’s lead from 68-65 to 70-65 with 23 seconds left, putting the Hoosiers on the doorstep of victory.
“I thought Conor Enright, 40 minutes of chasing Smith around, that’s not an easy deal, because that’s if not the best guard in the country right there, and he creates a lot of their stuff for them,” Darian DeVries said. “I thought he gave incredible effort the whole night, and cramping and everything and he continued to fight through it. Made a big three late. Made two free throws.”
IU didn’t necessarily thrive in the position of slamming the door on Purdue on Tuesday.
But in games like these, style points don’t matter. The Hoosiers simply found a way to finish off a win it desperately needed for their résumé, not to mention for the satisfaction of taking down a big rival. Enright helped them finish it off, but it took a huge team effort to make this victory happen.
“I’m just proud of this team,” DeVries said. “They’ve continued to battle and work like I’ve been telling you. They had a little tough stretch, but they continue to believe, continue to believe in the work they’re putting in. So I’m proud of them to see the results they’ve had here on a road win and now a big home win.”
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