CHICAGO — Indiana men’s basketball faced its first power conference opponent of the Darian DeVries era Sunday inside the United Center in Chicago.
The Hoosiers dominated Marquette University throughout much of the contest, exiting the Windy City with a 100-77 victory over the Golden Eagles to improve to 2-0.
The Cream and Crimson built a sizeable gap in the first half thanks to Tucker DeVries’ brilliance. The redshirt senior forward began the scoring for Indiana with a 3-pointer 24 seconds into the game.
But a foul fest ensued. First, senior forward Reed Bailey picked up his second foul just a minute and a half into the game, while sixth-year senior guard Tayton Conerway did the same just over three minutes later.
Tucker DeVries continued leading the Hoosiers’ offense in the first 20 minutes, as he scored 24 points and hit five 3-pointers. The Hoosiers held an 18-point lead at the break after redshirt senior guard Conor Enright drained a half-court heave.
To begin the second half, Marquette cut into Indiana’s lead. The Golden Eagles went on 6-0 and 5-0 spurts to pull within 10 with just under 14 minutes remaining. Tucker DeVries drained his first 3-pointer of the second half to push the Hoosiers’ lead to 13 but picked up his fourth foul just 11 seconds later and headed to the bench.
Fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson drained a pair of 3-pointers with senior forward Sam Alexis’ dunk in between. Suddenly, Indiana led by 21 with 10 minutes left.
The Hoosiers continued to bury the Golden Eagles, maintaining at least a 17-point lead throughout the rest of the contest as they cruised to a 23-point win.
Tucker DeVries led all scorers with 27 points, as he went 9 for 15 from the field. Wilkerson added 23 points, as he and Tucker DeVries drained six longballs apiece. The Hoosiers drilled 14 3-pointers in the victory.
Indiana (2-0) returns home to host the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at 7 p.m. Wednesday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Nathan Shriberg (@NShriberg and naashri@iu.edu) and columnist Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
