Indiana men’s basketball heads to Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. on Friday, for the first time in the Darian DeVries era.
The Hoosiers take on in-state rival Purdue at 8 p.m. ET on FOX, looking for a season sweep. IU defeated the Boilermakers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Jan. 27.
But this is an even bigger challenge, in a notably loud and hostile environment. DeVries knows IU has to be locked in mentally at Mackey.
“I think there’s probably a few components. No. 1, it’s just the communication aspect of play calls and that type of stuff, being able to relay that stuff. And then any time you get some environment, having your team be able to stay composed during those stretches and stuff,” DeVries said during a press conference Thursday. “That’s what makes all sports, home court, so advantageous is having that type of environment behind you.”
The Hoosiers (17-9, 8-7 Big Ten) haven’t been perfect on the road this season, but they have had some success away from Bloomington. Indiana is 3-6 in true road games so far, with one of the wins being a key quad I victory at UCLA.
IU sits No. 32 in the NET as of Thursday, but that’s with a 2-8 record in quad I games. So Friday is a big opportunity for DeVries’ team to boost its NCAA Tournament résumé.
But Purdue will be hungry entering this game, after a disappointing 91-80 defeat to No. 1 Michigan on Tuesday. That snapped a four-game winning streak for the Boilermakers since their loss at Assembly Hall.
But Matt Painter’s team is No. 8 in KenPom for a reason — it’s a group capable of playing like one of the best in the country.
“We’re gonna need to play very well. They’ve been playing incredibly well,” DeVries said. “They have a really good team, and they’re at home, and they’re tough to beat. So we’re gonna have to play well. We’re gonna have to make some shots. We’re gonna have to do a lot of things you’re gonna need to do in a tough road game.”
This is also the first rematch DeVries will encounter as Indiana head coach.
The Big Ten schedule no longer contains many home-and-home matchups since expanding to 18 teams. The only other teams IU is facing twice during the regular season are Michigan State and Minnesota.
Rematches, to DeVries, present some extra layers to game-planning.
“Whether you won or lost, do you try to do the same stuff? How much? Because they’re preparing for that, and how much do you change? And then vice versa. So you gotta be able to do different stuff and have different wrinkles for sure,” DeVries said. “But it still comes down to … the X’s and O’s are what they are, and you’re gonna tweak some things to try to find some advantages, but all those other things still matter. The turnovers, the rebounding, and those are the things that we gotta do well to give ourselves a chance.”
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