Lamar Wilkerson stood at the top of the arc with Tucker DeVries to his right as Indiana men’s basketball held a 21-point lead over Lindenwood University.
Although the Hoosiers largely overcame their offensive struggles they endured throughout much of the first 30 minutes of Thursday’s contest, Wilkerson had yet to do so.
Wilkerson, a fifth-year senior guard, was coming off a victory against the University of the Incarnate Word on Sunday in which he didn’t make a 3-pointer. It broke a 40-game streak with at least one longball that dated to February 2024.
With just under seven and a half minutes left Thursday, Wilkerson had already notched three 2-point makes. However, he’d yet to hit a 3-pointer.
So, DeVries — who had already scored 23 points — fed Wilkerson. It paid dividends.
Wilkerson drained the shot and subsequently looked up toward the rafters. Arguably one of the nation’s best from beyond the arc displayed a sense of relief after he sank Indiana’s final 3-pointer in its 73-53 victory over Lindenwood inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
Wilkerson finished the contest with 10 points and four rebounds, as he went 4 for 16 from the field. Tucker DeVries led all scorers with 25 points on 46.7% shooting.
Indiana head coach Darian DeVries reiterated before the season that Wilkerson, a career 40.3% 3-point shooter, had a green light to take shots from beyond the arc. A couple off-shooting nights doesn’t alter that.
“He (Wilkerson) can let them rip whenever he wants,” Darian DeVries said postgame. “Like we always tell our guys, basketball is basketball. The best players in the world have off nights. He had an off-shooting night. That means we got a good one coming.”
The Ashdown, Arkansas, native’s showing Thursday wasn’t much better than Sunday’s — just one make on seven attempts. Again, the Hoosiers still earned a win to improve to 5-0 thus far, even with Wilkerson’s back-to-back poor shooting performances.
“It's always about, ‘Let's make sure we got the win even on those nights,’” DeVries said. “So, he's going to have plenty of good nights, too.”
However, Wilkerson isn’t alone in his struggles over the past two contests.
Indiana began the season with three victories, including a dominant showing against Marquette University on Nov. 9 in Chicago. Across those three contests, the Hoosiers averaged 99.7 points per game.
In the two wins since, the Cream and Crimson scored 69 and 73 points, respectively.
Indiana began the game Thursday with a 10-0 run. It seemed another high-scoring, throttling triumph was in the cards. But the Hoosiers’ offense sputtered.
The first half was choppy, Darian DeVries said, as his squad didn’t make their 6 and 8-point runs they’ve grown accustomed to notching. And with the offense struggling, the Hoosiers’ energy level did, too.
Tucker DeVries felt it was “pretty obvious” the Cream and Crimson were flat in the first half. They allowed the Lions — who average nine offensive rebounds per game — to haul in 13 offensive boards across the first 20 minutes. They added six in the second half.
“I thought the first half was just kind of dead all around,” Tucker DeVries said.
The Hoosiers entered the locker room at halftime with an 18-point advantage despite shooting just 37.5% from the field. After Lindenwood pulled within 6 points in the second half, Indiana went on a 13-0 run to regain a strong hold on the contest and earn the win.
In total, the Cream and Crimson made just 23 of 61 field goal attempts, including 9 for 28 from beyond the arc. The scoring output has certainly decreased, and Darian DeVries attributed it to how opponents are guarding his squad.
The Lions defenders switched near the arc, preventing the Hoosiers from getting the open looks they had through much of the first three games of the season. Moving the ball around the perimeter has also become tougher.
“We don't get to move it quite as easily,” Darian DeVries said. “In some of the actions where they're not switching, you set a pin down and now a guy comes off a screen and he's got an advantage because his guy’s trailing; versus when they switch it, they are coming off a taking away that next pass, so now you got to get to a second action.”
As a result, the Hoosiers have shot 40.4% from the field and 26.9% beyond the arc across the last two contests.
“It just takes a little bit for us as an offense right now,” Darian DeVries said. “That's what we're working hard at getting better at, is how do we exploit that and use that to our advantage. Like I said, we'll get there. Just hasn't been very clean these last couple games.”
The Hoosiers aren’t going to shoot well in every game. It’s nearly impossible, and every team goes through rough offensive showings. So, Indiana will sometimes have to find different ways to win contests.
“I think it's just learning as a group when the offense isn't going, just to really embrace the defensive side,” Darian DeVries said, “and let that be our identity and let that be where your enthusiasm comes from.”
The enthusiasm wasn’t there for portions of Thursday’s contest.
Still, Tucker DeVries scored 25 points and senior forward Sam Alexis provided a spark off the bench. Even with Wilkerson’s struggles over the past two matchups, the Hoosiers have found ways to win without his prowess on display.
And in the end, that’s what takes precedence over all else — victories. Indiana has earned five so far this season, but it wants more. And it knows it’ll have to do more to win more.
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.
