The IU vs. Purdue game is where Indiana legends are born. Play well in this game and your name will be remembered in Bloomington forever. After his performance on Tuesday, Nick Dorn may have just added his name to that list.
After missing the first part of the season with a foot injury, the junior guard has seemingly found his rhythm. Over the past couple of games, Dorn has become a reliable third scorer alongside Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson. Playing against the #3 ranked Michigan Wolverines, Dorn had 14 points, which he quickly followed up on the road against Rutgers, exploding for 23 points.
Dorn kept this momentum going on Tuesday, playing with energy from the opening tip. In the blink of an eye, Dorn had racked up 5 of the Hoosiers’ first 7 points off a deep two and a three-pointer.
When asked what led to this hot start, Dorn said, “We’ve been very competitive all week in practice. That really led up to what happened today. We didn’t take plays off. We battled to the end of the play, finished plays. And just our work in the gym has helped us.”
Dorn sustained this hot start throughout the entire game, ending with 18 points, the second-highest of all Hoosiers. Speaking after the game, Dorn explained how the rivalry atmosphere at Assembly Hall fueled his game. “It is always special just to be able to do this against Purdue in this environment — sold-out crowd. There’s nothing like it. I mean I could barely hear. I really enjoy playing in it.” He said.
Dorn’s teammates have started to take notice of his play of late. Speaking to the media after the game, Conor Enright said, “It gives our team a lot more options. When Tucker and Lamar are doing what they’re doing and then you have Nick hitting six 3s a game, you gotta — it’s hard to guard. It leaves me or Sam or Reed out there with plenty of options.”
Head Coach Darian DeVries echoed this, saying, “Yeah, he’s been great. And you could see him, you know, from early in the year when he missed the time and stuff; it takes a while when you are out that long just get back in shape, then get into game shape, and then find the rhythm back. And you can really see here, the last couple weeks, he’s starting to find it. And then playing time’s starting to come up and increase. So he’s finding his spots where he fits in our offense. And our guys know where he is, too. So he’s gotten very comfortable in that.”
DeVries continued by saying, “As you can see, he’s not afraid. He’ll let them go, and you know that’s another great option for us to continue to utilize and even grow into finding more ways to get him free.”
While Dorn has been a true threat from deep, it was his defense that stole the show against the Boilermakers on Tuesday. Dorn consistently shut down every Purdue guard he faced, ending the game with 3 steals and 2 defensive rebounds. When asked about his defensive play, Dorn said, “We had a bend-but-don’t-break mentality. We know that they’re going to go on runs. It’s a game of runs. And we just have to be able to weather the storm and be able to push for it when we need it and finish plays.”
Nick Dorn just played his best game in the biggest game of his Hoosiers’ career. With him emerging as another offensive and defensive threat for Indiana, the Hoosiers have a chance to finish the season strong and make the NCAA tournament.