By Matt St. Charles
After Wednesday’s win against Milwaukee, Indiana head coach Darian DeVries shared his thoughts on the sustainability of the Hoosiers’ offense, which had been incredibly efficient through three games.
“There are going to be nights where you don’t go 14 for 28 [from 3] and you have those same shots,” he said. “That’s just basketball. And that’s coming. So, on those nights, that’s our challenge–how do we win those games?”
That sentiment was tested immediately in IU’s 69-61 win against Incarnate Word on Sunday evening.
Tucker DeVries, who scored 14 points on the night, went 4-13 from the field and 3-11 from outside. Early foul trouble took Lamar Wilkerson out of rhythm, resulting in just nine points while shooting 2-6 overall and 0-3 from 3. Tayton Connerway scored nine on 3-10 shooting.
The team, as a whole, shot 43% from the field and just 20.8% from 3 on the night–a steep drop-off from the 56%/48% splits through the first three games. That struggle wasn’t as apparent in the first half against the Cardinals, as the phenomenal play of Sam Alexis washed it all away.
Alexis, who finished the night leading the team with 16 points, had 13 in the first half with three dunks. His activity rolling to the basket off ball screens or pindowns against the combination of 1-3-1 and man gave him great looks all night, and he was able to finish with authority over and over.
“When you’ve got guys like [Wilkerson and Connerway], other guys on our team that can shoot it so well gives me opportunities to just slip and get easy, wide open dunks,” Alexis said. “So, [I’m] just thankful for those guys who can make 3s.”
He also crashed the glass hard, finishing with eight rebounds, and along with eight more from Trent Sisley, Indiana outrebounded Incarnate Word 42-29.
Alexis anchored a defense that gave up just 19 first-half points, protecting the rim and altering interior shots. In the second half, the Cardinals were able to draw him away from the rim, where he held his own against the UIW guards, forcing some tough mid-range looks.
“Sam is playing great,” Darian DeVries said. “He was one of the guys tonight that really brought some good energy, some good physicality. There were a handful of possessions in the second half where he switched on a guard and guarded about as well as anybody. I thought he was terrific.”
But a lead that grew to as many as 19 shrunk to as few as five late in the second half. That aforementioned cold shooting reared its head for IU, as it missed eight straight 3s over an eight-minute period, and went 2-11 in the second half from outside.
On the flip side, Incarnate Word made five of seven threes during that stretch, while Tahj Staveskie made some tough mid-range jumpers to get his team back in the game.
“Yeah, I thought they got into our paint to start; a few mid-ranges and stuff like that as well,” Darian DeVries said. “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. Again, it always starts on the ball and the connectivity behind it usually is where it’s at. You have to be good on the ball first and build it out from there.”
As things got tight down the stretch, the experience of the Indiana roster won out, making four of its last five field goals to answer Staveskie’s buckets and keep the Cardinals at arms’ length.
“We’re a whole bunch of seniors,” Alexis said. “So, we just put our heads together and just went out there and played hard the last five minutes.”
“They hit some tough shots,” Tucker DeVries added. “At the end of the day, it’s just finding a way to win once you get in those situations. I thought it was good for us to still pull it out in the right way.”
A somewhat expected wrinkle early in what will be a long season for the Hoosiers, but any time you can survive a shooting night like this one, you’ll take it.
“The reality is you’re going to have off shooting nights,” Darian DeVries said. “It’s going to happen. Tonight was one of them…So, that’s a learning opportunity. It’s a 40-minute game. That’s certainly something we’ll take advantage of. Like I said, I like learning after wins.”