The Indiana Hoosiers (14-7, 5-5) had been in this spot before in 2025-26. A double-digit half time lead was dwindling, the team looked out of gas and the winning plays were not going their way. That is when Conor Enright played an unexpected role of drought buster.
The Hoosiers had gone 4:11 without a field goal from the 5:23 mark to the 1:12 while seeing a 10-point lead melt away to just two. That is when Enright, who was brilliant on defense and distributing the ball on offense, took matters into his own hands and hit a three to put IU up 68-63.
The Hoosiers trusted Enright to make the right play and his teams were hitting threes all night, so the defense made him shoot the ball and he just pulled the trigger.
“Honestly I make them more when I think less. You know, it’s pretty easy too when I’ve got Nick, Tucker and Lamar hitting shots. So, I get open ones. So, just let that one fly.” Enright said.
The shot was the biggest for the season for IU and his two free throws later in the game should not be forgotten either.
“It’s up there for sure.” Enright said post game of his shot. “Just the guys having confidence in me and shooting every day with some of my coaches. And, yeah, just being ready when my number’s called.”
Enright is now stranger to big moments. He had one for head coach Darian DeVries at Drake as well.
“I’ve seen it before because we were — when I was at Drake, we were playing in the championship game against Indiana State. We had a huge, huge lead and they came all the way back. I think we were up 26 and they cut it to two with like a minute to go.” DeVries said. “It was almost the exact same play. He’s standing right in front of the bench. Tucker had the ball and Tucker fires it to him and he fires that thing up there and makes it — basically won the game for us.”
Enright played all 40 minutes last night and battled cramps toward the end after hounding Purdue’s All-American point guard Braden Smith up and down the court. He finished with eight points and eight assists while limiting Smith to 14 points, five assists (0 in the first half) and four turnovers.
“I thought Conor Enright, 40 minutes of chasing Smith around, that’s not an easy deal, because that’s if not the best guard in the country right there, and he creates a lot of their stuff for them.” DeVries said. “I thought he gave incredible effort the whole night, and cramping and everything and he continued to fight through it. So made a big 3 late. Made two free throws.”
Enright may not be the flashiest player for IU, but he has shown the guts and grit that make him a valuable part of any team. That showed up in a familiar rivalry for the Hoosier guard.
“it’s really cool to see all the fans, packed house. My brother went here, so I know he’s smiling, far, far away, wherever he’s watching the game at.” Enright said. “It’s awesome. It means a lot to everybody at the school, all the fans. I understand how much this rivalry means.”
Tuesday night was a signature win for the Darian DeVries Era and Assembly Hall felt like Assembly Hall again.
“I think it’s huge because the crowd feeds off how we play. I think the last couple of weeks we’ve been starting to play more for each other and playing hard together. So obviously beating a rival like Purdue is big for us. And so I think, you know, propels us these past two wins, giving us good momentum.” Enright said of the win.