Cream & Crimson Computations: Wilkerson’s Hot Shooting, IUBB Resume Talk and Alexis’ Resurgence

Indiana's Lamar Wilkerson (3) shoots during the Indiana versus Wisconsin men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. By: Nate Comp (@NathanComp1) We find ourselves in a bit of a break between games here after another 2-0 stretch since I last wrote. The Hoosiers escaped Wisconsin after being the beneficiaries of some generous whistles down the stretch and followed that win up with a historic night from Lamar Wilkerson in taking down Oregon. All eyes now turn to a difficult stretch approaching with Illinois and Purdue road matchups, but first, let’s take a look at some of the updated stats from the ball club of late. Lamar Wilkerson I wrapped up my article last week by saying Lamar Wilkerson has been able to keep the offense afloat as Tucker DeVries struggled from the field, but I have to start this week’s with Wilkerson after an all-time performance on Monday night. After the 41-point outburst, Wilkerson became the program’s fourth 40-point scorer since 1990 - but his name is now on that list twice, after scoring 44 against Penn State earlier this season in December. Only four Hoosiers have ever been on the 40+ point list twice in one season, as he joins Jimmy Rayl, Don Schlundt, and George McGinnis on that list. “Lamar, he’s pretty special,” said Coach Darian DeVries after the Oregon game. “I told you that after our Wisconsin game, that he’s one of those guys that’s going to play this game for a long time. You can see as he’s gotten more comfortable with what we’re going and we’ve challenged him with some things defensively, play making, creating, he’s accepted those challenges and just took off with it.” Wilkerson has got it done from all over the floor, but has been especially impressive from behind the arc. With still six games left to play in the regular season, he is already fourth in IU’s single-season 3-pointers made list with 84 made 3’s. He is behind just Yogi Ferrell (88), James Blackmon Jr. (91), and Steve Alford (107). DeVries System I think many are of the same opinion as myself in saying this is likely going to wind up being one of Darian DeVries’ least talented teams while he is at the helm, so there is certainly a ceiling on what this team can accomplish. However, I remain encouraged by what we’re seeing overall from his system and how it fits into modern basketball. I’ve come across two things that stood out in my feelings for future success under DeVries: CandidHoosier on X pointed out that Indiana basketball is finally statistically relevant again. The Hoosiers are top-30 in defensive efficiency, opponent FG % is trending down month after month, their rebounding margin is at a level in which they can win games, and they truly have efficiency playing on their home floor. These are all major signs of success that can be sustained as roster talent continues to improve. Per Peter Newmann on X, the previous four seasons combined included 18 teams that took 50% or more of their shots from 3. This season alone? There are 16. Indiana is 10th on this list with 740 3PA on 1442 FGA (51.3%), a sign that Indiana is fully bought into the “3 is worth more than 2” basic element of modern basketball. (Interestingly enough, it appears the Big Ten is onto this in general; 4 of the 16 teams are from the Big Ten, as Indiana is joined by Illinois, Nebraska, and Wisconsin). Resume Talk There are lots of things I could bring up in terms of resume, and I’ve talked about them in the past couple Computations articles. But today, I want to go as basic as possible: wins. Through 10 days of February, Indiana was up to 17 wins. The last time an Indiana team had 17 wins by February 10th came in the 2015-16 season in which Yogi Ferrell led the team to a Big Ten regular season championship and into the Sweet Sixteen. The decade since has seen only 14 wins on average on February 10th. Sam Alexis Lamar Wilkerson will get the headlines for his play in the past couple of games, which is well deserved. But a huge shoutout has to go to Sam Alexis for his play of late, especially the last two games. Alexis has made 17 of his last 18 field goal attempts in the past two games, tallying 19 and 16 points respectively. His ability to be a presence in lob and post-up situations has really forced defenses to collapse and Indiana’s 3-point shooters to see more open looks. Stretching back to the last five games his efficiency has stayed at a high level, making 24 of his last 25 shots. “He’s given us these last two games some low presence that maybe we haven’t utilized enough to be honest with you,” added Darian DeVries after the Oregon game. “Sometimes as coaches you got to admit your mistakes. I think he’s done a great job of taking advantage of things. Wisconsin game was a little more on switches. There was a couple like on likes, but tonight he was able to do it big on big and get to a spot and get into a move. Thought he had a couple nice kickouts out of there as well. That’s something that we’re going to continue to try to utilize. Getting some more paint touches, whether it’s off dribble penetration, cutting, or post-ups certainly helps our offense and frees up our shooters maybe even a little bit more.” Stay tuned each week as I’ll continue to compile intriguing statistics from the Indiana men’s basketball season. 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Cream & Crimson Computations: Wilkerson’s Hot Shooting, IUBB Resume Talk and Alexis’ Resurgence

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