The Indiana Hoosiers remained unbeaten and improved to 6-0 in the Darian DeVries era as they jumped out to a big lead and never trailed in a 86-69 victory over the Kansas State Wildcats. Despite a scoreless first half from Tucker DeVries and only 14 points from Lamar Wilkerson, IU was never really threatened by the visitors from the Big 12. Reed Bailey paced the Hoosiers with 21 points in 29 minutes. He was joined in double-figures by Tayton Conerway with 19, Lamar Wilkerson with 14 and Trent Sisley with 12. Conor Enright was fantastic all night, particularly on the defensive end against KSU star P.J. Haggerty. He finished with seven points, six rebounds and three assists.
The Indiana Hoosiers could not have started any better as Reed Bailey connected with Tayton Conerway for a cutting layup on the first possession, Lamar Wilkerson sank a long three-pointer after a forced turnover and then Conerway nailed a triple of his own to make it 8-0 within the first 70 seconds of the contest. Kansas State got on the board but the Hoosiers continued their hot start and extended the lead to 20-4 before the Wildcats found any sort of rhythm as Sam Alexis picked up his second foul and headed to the bench. Kansas State went on an extended 16-2 run as IU struggled on offense and sent the Wildcats to the foul line for multiple free points. The lead was cut to just two points at 22-20 before the teams traded buckets until the final media timeout of the first half. Reed Bailey got a pair of free throws,
Lamar Wilkerson and Conor Enright both connected from behind the arc and Tucker DeVries hit Reed Bailey for a dunk that pushed Indiana’s advantage back to ten points before a Kansas State timeout. The Hoosiers added a free throw and went into the locker room ahead 39-27. Star guard P.J. Haggerty was limited to just six points with six turnovers as Conor Enright regularly frustrated him and the Wildcats had 13 turnovers in the game’s first 20 minutes.
The Hoosiers began the second half in a similar fashion to how they began the game, roaring ahead to a 20-point lead behind the play of Reed Bailey. The teams traded buckets for a few minutes before Kansas State buried eight straight shots as P.J. Haggerty showed a renewed focus on driving hard to the basket and Conor Enright picked up his third and fourth fouls in quick succession. The lead dwindled to just ten points but Tayton Conerway responded with a three-point play, a lob to Trent Sisley for a dunk and then a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 15 points with just seven minutes to play in the contest.
Indiana’s three-point shooting helped establish the early lead but it was tough defense, strong rebounding and a high-volume from the free throw line that kept the Hoosiers in front all night. Kansas State entered this contest averaging 92.6 points per game and Indiana limited to the Wildcats to only 69 points as the Hoosiers forced KSU into 19 turnovers that IU turned into 27 points. P.J. Haggerty ended up with 16 points but it took him 17 shots and he was also forced into six turnovers as Conor Enright and Tayton Conerway pestered him all game long. The Hoosiers ended up shooting 10 for 33 from beyond the arc while adding 22 of 29 free throws. Rebounding will be a constant concern for Indiana this season but they beat Kansas State on the glass 35-28.
The Hoosiers will host Bethune-Cookman on Saturday at noon with a chance to move to 7-0 before beginning Big Ten play on December 3 at Minnesota.