Hoosiers Fall to the Trojans 81-75

Written by: TJ Inman

The Indiana Hoosiers failed to win a third straight quad one game, falling at USC’s Galen Center in the second half of their West Coast road swing. Despite getting 33 points from Lamar Wilkerson, the rest of the Hoosiers were ice cold from the field and were only 10-35 from three while getting outrebounded by 15 and outscored by 12 at the free throw line in the 81-75 defeat.

The USC Trojans started hot from the field, making their first seven shots on their home floor and charging out to a 16-10 lead with 26-year old Chad Baker-Mazara tallying seven points early. The Indiana Hoosiers responded well, going on a quick 7-0 run to grab the lead at 17-16 as Lamar Wilkerson lit up the scoreboard early.

The Trojans scored six in a row before Trent Sisley hit a triple and Reed Bailey knocked in a pair of free throws as the game see-sawed back and forth with both teams grabbing small leads before the USC Trojans began to take control on the offensive glass and Lamar Wilkerson picked up his second foul and headed to the bench. The Hoosiers limped to the end of the first half trailing 35-30 as USC grabbed eight offensive rebounds and had nine more free throw attempts than the Hoosiers in the first 20 minutes.

Indiana cut the lead to just two points early in the second half as Tucker DeVries finally saw the ball go through the basket but a turnover led to a USC layup and then the Trojans slowly took control. IU’s only offense was coming from Lamar Wilkerson as Tucker DeVries and Nick Dorn missed every shot they threw at the bucket and the Hoosiers fell apart on defense, continuing to foul and send USC to the foul line. The lead reached 14 points for the home team before IU took a timeout. A dead-ball technical was called on a USC player for taunting, Lamar Wilkerson hit a pair of free throws and Conor Enright sank a triple as the Hoosiers quickly sliced the deficit to single-digits.

Wilkerson dragged IU back into the game by himself, cutting the lead to only four points but USC freshman Alijah Arenas hit back-to-back triples and Indiana continued to give up offensive rebounds as the lead ballooned back to 12 points right before the final media timeout. Indiana refused to quit and Nick Dorn finally got a shot to fall as he knocked down a three-pointer to make it an eight point game and then Reed Bailey was fouled and connected on a three-point play to make it 70-65 with 1:55 remaining. Arenas broke the Indiana press and made an acrobatic layup to extend the lead to seven points, Nick Dorn clanked another three-pointer and USC appeared to have a clear path to a home victory.

The Hoosiers kept on battling and the Trojans missed a couple of free throws to give IU a bit of life at 75-71 with just 45.5 seconds remaining but a critical out of bounds call went USC’s way but the Trojans subsequently turned the ball over and Tayton Conerway came out of the scrum, made a layup and was fouled with 31.5 seconds left. He missed the free throw and USC was fouled with 24.2 seconds on the clock and a 75-73 advantage. Jordan Marsh made both free throws and Tayton Conerway’s layup attempt was blocked followed by Alijah Arenas finishing the proceedings with two more made free throws.  

Indiana shot only 10-35 from the three-point line and were out-rebounded 40-25. That included surrendering 11 offensive boards and USC outscored IU by 12 at the foul line. Lamar Wilkerson did everything he could, racking up 33 points but Tucker DeVries was only 1-9 from the field and Nick Dorn significantly cooled off and was a dreadful 2-12. With every Hoosier but Wilkerson combining to go 5-23 from beyond the arc, Indiana needed to find production elsewhere and it just did not come. The Hoosiers still got a split in California and now return home for a pair of important games at Assembly Hall against Wisconsin and Oregon.