Written by: TJ Inman
Darian DeVries and the Indiana Hoosiers desperately needed a marquee victory. As IU fans showered Curt Cignetti’s football team with praise and adulation prior to the game, all attention now shifted to the hardwood and the Hoosiers responded with their best game of the season. They roared out to a 40-29 halftime lead and then held on for a huge 72-67 win over the #12 Purdue Boilermakers in front of a raucous crowd at Assembly Hall. The win moves IU to 5-5 in the Big Ten and gives the Hoosiers their first Quad One victory of the campaign. Lamar Wilkerson led the team with 19 points, Nick Dorn had 18 and Conor Enright played fantastic defense against All-American Braden Smith while making some clutch plays late to help bring the win home.
The Indiana Hoosiers trailed 10-8 at the first media timeout as the teams combined for four made three pointers in the first four minutes of the game. The teams traded buckets and the most noteworthy play of the first stretch of the game was an aggressive drive to the basket by Lamar Wilkerson that resulted in a scary crash to the floor. IU’s star guard was shaken up but stayed in the game as the Boilermakers took a 23-19 lead and Darian DeVries called his first timeout. His team responded with an impressive punch back, going on a 8-0 run that eventually extended to a 15-2 spurt to go ahead 34-25. Purdue chipped the deficit to seven points but Indiana got triples from Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson and led 40-29 at the half. It was one of the best stretches of 20 minutes IU had played all season as they connected 8-20 from beyond the arc, forced seven Purdue turnovers with six steals coming from the Hoosiers and most surprisingly, they outrebounded the much bigger Boilers 15-13.
The Indiana Hoosiers picked up right where they left off with Conor Enright nailing an open triple to extend the lead to 14 points but everyone knew the Boilermakers would have a run and they knocked the lead down to six points shortly after the first media timeout. Indiana had a response and his name was Nick Dorn. The Elon transfer had a layup and a pair of three pointers to help build the lead back to 12 with ten minutes remaining. Jasai Miles added a pair of free throws and IU again matched their largest lead at 14 before Purdue answered with a 7-0 run to slice the margin in half. IU got a big break as Trent Sisley got open on an inbounds pass with .6 left on the shot clock and he knocked down both free throws to give the Hoosiers a ten point lead with just six minutes to play. The Boilermakers refused to go away quietly and a missed shot in the paint by Lamar Wilkerson was taken the other way for a three pointer by Braden Smith to make it a 7-point game at the final media timeout. Reed Bailey missed the front end and free throws from Trey Kaufman-Renn made the game as close as it had been all second half as IU’s lead sat at just five points. Lamar Wilkerson threw it away on IU’s next possession as the Hoosiers’ drought extended to nearly three minutes but Tucker DeVries and Conor Enright fought hard against Kaufman-Renn in the paint and DeVries was fouled on the rebound. However, DeVries missed his free throw attempt and Reed Bailey fouled Kaufman-Renn and the Boilermakers cut it to a four point game as Darian DeVries called a timeout with 1:48 remaining. Indiana turned it over out of the timeout and Braden Smith scored to make it 65-63. The Hoosiers needed a hero and they got one from the unlikeliest of sources as Conor Enright nailed a triple to rescue Indiana’s chances. Nick Dorn got a steal and Tucker DeVries was fouled with just 44.9 seconds left. For the third straight time, IU missed the front end of a one-and-one and gave Purdue life. Trey Kaufman-Renn scored inside and Purdue called their final timeout with the score 68-65 in favor of the home team and just a tick over 28 seconds on the clock. Conor Enright was fouled and made two pressure-packed free throws. Purdue scored inside but it took a chunk of time and IU led 70-67 with 10.9 remaining. Indiana got the ball to Lamar Wilkerson and he was fouled with 8.9 remaining and a chance to ice the game. Wilkerson wanted the ball and answered the call, knocking down the shots and sealing the massive win for Indiana by a score of 72-67.
Indiana finished just 12-33 from three and sputtered offensively down the stretch but they forced ten Purdue turnovers and were competitive on the glass, losing that battle by only five. The Hoosiers have now won two games in a row and their NCAA Tournament hopes have new life as they head West to play UCLA and USC.