Indiana needed a response, and it delivered one in emphatic fashion Tuesday night. After a two-game slide marked by sloppy losses to Minnesota and then No. 6 Louisville that knocked the Hoosiers out of the top 25, Indiana returned to Assembly Hall desperate to rediscover its identity. What followed was a full-throttle offensive eruption that reminded everyone just how dangerous this team can be.
In its second Big Ten contest of the season, Indiana overwhelmed Penn State from the opening tip, cruising to a 113-72 victory behind an unstoppable performance from senior guard Lamar Wilkerson. On a night where records fell and shots seemed magnetized to the rim, Wilkerson insisted his focus never drifted toward personal milestones. The priority, he said, was simply winning.
“It never crossed my mind actually,” Wilkerson said when asked if he felt the magnitude of his night as it unfolded. “We lost the last two, so we were coming as a team, collective, trying to get back to the way we was playing. The ball was just going in.”
And go in it did. Wilkerson authored one of the most prolific scoring performances in Assembly Hall history, pouring in 44 points on a blistering 72.7 percent shooting from the field. In doing so, he surpassed Trayce Jackson-Davis’s previous single-game scoring record in Assembly Hall of 43 points, set during a 2021 win over Marshall. Wilkerson was just as lethal from beyond the arc, drilling 10 of his 15 three-point attempts to become the first Hoosier ever to hit double-digit threes in a game. The former record of nine had been shared by Robert Johnson, Matt Roth, and Rod Wilmont.
Perhaps most astonishing was how quickly the damage was done. Wilkerson needed only 24 minutes to carve his name into the record books, ranking fourth on the team in minutes played while delivering one of the most efficient scoring nights Assembly Hall has ever seen.
Wilkerson wasted little time announcing that Tuesday night was going to be different. After Penn State briefly grabbed its first and only lead of the game, the senior guard responded by knocking down three straight triples, instantly swinging momentum back in Indiana’s favor. From there, the Hoosiers leaned into the hot hand, and Wilkerson rewarded that trust with shot after shot finding the bottom of the net.
“[The] hole looked big as the ocean today, man,” Wilkerson said postgame. “So, I was just throwing it up there. It just happened to go in. All glory to God, man.”
The outburst was both electric and necessary, not just for Indiana but for Wilkerson himself. Over the previous two games, the senior had struggled to find his usual rhythm, shooting 5-of-15 against Louisville and 5-of-14 against Minnesota. From beyond the arc in those contests, he combined to go just 4-of-15. Tuesday told a very different story. Wilkerson rediscovered his touch while impacting the game in every facet, finishing with four rebounds, four assists, and a season-high three steals to complement his historic scoring night.
Head coach Darian DeVries saw the shift early and watched it snowball.
“Yeah, I think it’s great for him,” DeVries said. “I think even for really good shooters, sometimes if you overthink it, you can start to pressure a little bit in your own mind,” head coach Darian DeVries said after the win. “When he gets one or two down, you can just see it was a relief for him tonight. Then after that it was just fun. We need him. He’s an important piece, especially for our offense. He draws a lot of gravity for that reason.”
That gravity is part of a larger offensive identity taking shape in Bloomington. Indiana boasts a depth of shooting it has not consistently had in recent seasons, and Tuesday marked the fourth time the Hoosiers have eclipsed the 100-point mark this year. The last time Indiana scored 100 or more in four of its first 11 games came in 2016 during Tom Crean’s final season. While the past week brought some turbulence, Wilkerson’s performance provided a reminder of just how high this team’s ceiling can be.
Now 8-2 on the season, Indiana turns its attention to one of college basketball’s most storied rivalries. The Hoosiers travel to Lexington for a highly anticipated matchup against Kentucky, their first trip to Rupp Arena since a 2010 loss. The programs last met during the 2016 NCAA Tournament, when Indiana secured a 73-67 victory. Saturday presents a chance to reignite the rivalry, and after a night that rewrote the record books, the Hoosiers head south with momentum firmly on their side.