On a night when the shots weren’t falling, IU basketball escaped on Sunday evening.
Incarnate Word led 12-11 seven minutes into the game. A 20-2 run in the middle of the first half is really what allowed Indiana to pull out the win. The Hoosiers took a 31-14 lead with 5:36 left in the first. The IU lead was 19 with 12:47 left in the game, but the Cardinals began chipping away and got within five points twice in the final two minutes.
Let’s take a deeper look at how Indiana won 69-61 with our latest edition of The Report Card.
Indiana (4-0) will host Lindenwood Thursday evening in Bloomington.
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OFFENSE (C+)
The most obvious place to start is this from head coach Darian DeVries after the game:
“You’re going to have off shooting nights,” he said. “It’s just going to happen. Tonight was one of them.”
It’s reasonable to ask — how much different would you have felt about this game if a few more open threes had gone in?
More concerning than the off night was probably that Lamar Wilkerson only took six shots in 27 minutes, and just three 3-pointers. More shots might not have helped Wilkerson, who was 0 of 3 from three. But we never got a chance to find out. Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries both came in averaging more than 19 points per game, but they combined to shoot just 6 of 19 from the field.
Indiana struggled early to find a rhythm against a UWI 1-3-1 zone. The Hoosiers missed plenty of open shots. But there were times when they seemed to be stagnant and dribbling aimlessly as the shot clock wound down.
“The ball definitely just didn’t move the way that we’d like it to tonight,” DeVries said. “So we ended up with a lot more just the ball stuck in one guy’s hands and a lot more one-on-one tonight, and that’s not really what we’re designed to do as an offense.”
After a 5 of 24 night shooting threes, it should come as no surprise IU produced season lows in points per possession (1.07) and effective field goal percentage (48.1%). In fact, they were nowhere near their average for either measure.
Indiana helped itself by getting to the free throw line for 26 attempts. Their 49.1 free throw rate (FTA/FGA) was a season high. But IU was off at the stripe as well, and made just 69.2%.
The Hoosiers assisted on 18 of their 23 field goals. And they pulled down 12 offensive rebounds.
DEFENSE (C+)
Did Indiana’s shooting struggles carry over to the defensive end of the floor? You can’t say that with any degree of certainty, but there was a substantial drop off in the effectiveness of the IU defense from the first half to the second.
In the first half, Incarnate Word shot 20.7% from the field and scored just .66 points per possession. And in the second they shot 54.8%, including 46.2% from three, turned it over just four times, and scored 1.27 points per possession.
Things got particularly bad in the final 4:15 of the second half, when UIW scored 13 points and got as close as a five-point margin.
“I thought they got into our paint, got a few mid-ranges and stuff like that as well,” DeVries said. “Those are shots that I wouldn’t say we give up, but we are designed to at least get some challenge one of those. They came off a little cleaner with a few of those than we would like, and then they made a few threes. We gave up a few baseline drives and now you’re in rotation and they’re spraying it out the backside.”
For the game as a whole, the defensive numbers don’t look terrible, it’s just the second half trend that’s concerning.
IU forced just nine turnovers for the game, for season low 14% turnover rate. That was the only glaring flaw beyond the fact that .95 points per possession is a bit more than you’d like to see against a non-high major.
MORE GAME COVERAGE
- Watch: IU basketball’s Darian DeVries, Tucker DeVries and Sam Alexis discuss win over Incarnate Word
- IU basketball: Indiana 69 Incarnate Word 61 — Three keys, highlights, final stats
THE PLAYERS (*starters)
*Tucker DeVries (C-) Let’s not get too carried away with one off night. But DeVries did at times seem to dribble too much and he was perhaps unaware of the shot clock. And after missing several threes he seemed to over think a couple wide open ones by slowing down too much and taking himself out of rhythm. And he struggled at the line too.
*Lamar Wilkerson (C-) As mentioned above, the most confounding part of Wilkerson’s night was how few looks he got. And he compounded limited touches with three turnovers and had no assists. But he made four free throws late to help put the game away.
*Reed Bailey (C) Bailey’s night was mysterious as well, as he played just 13 minutes despite starting. Perhaps it was that he had just one rebound in those minutes, or possibly it was that Sam Alexis is the better finisher around the basket and had some early success in that area?
*Conor Enright (B) You love Enright’s six rebounds, five assists and no turnovers. He seems to have a knack for knowing where a missed shot is going to end up, which led to four offensive rebounds. Like his fellow guards, Enright didn’t connect from three, and he seems to pass up open looks, inside and outside the arc.
*Tayton Conerway (B) Conerway impacted the game in a number of ways with seven assists, six rebounds and three blocks to name a few. He’s proven to be a strong facilitator. But it wasn’t a flawless effort with three turnovers and an 0 of 3 night from beyond the arc.
Sam Alexis (B) Alexis was on the floor during Indiana’s big first half run. He scored 13 of his 16 points before halftime. With UIW intent on taking away Wilkerson and DeVries, he had favorable matchups and space to operate.
Trent Sisley (B) As he’s done multiple times already this season, Sisley was a spark off the bench with his high motor. He posted a career-best eight rebounds, and made a couple threes on his way to 10 points.
Jasai Miles (N/A) Miles had a limited role, playing just six minutes.
Nick Dorn (N/A) Dorn had a limited role, playing just four minutes.
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Andrej Acimovic did not play — coaches decision.
Aleksa Ristic, Jason Drake, and Josh Harris were all out with injuries.
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