Indiana men’s basketball entered Thursday’s contest as the 23rd-best squad in the KenPom rankings. Lindenwood University sat at 334th-best of 365 Division I teams.
Still, the Lions trailed the Hoosiers by just 6 points in the early stages of the second half. However, the Cream and Crimson pulled away as the half wore on en route to a 73-53 victory inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
Indiana, now 5-0, jumped out to a 10-point lead by the time Lindenwood notched its first points six and a half minutes into the game. But it was just the start of a rather ugly first-half performance for both squads, as Indiana went 37.5% from the field while Lindenwood shot 17.9%.
Still, Indiana maintained a healthy lead throughout the first half. The Hoosiers led by as many as 19 points in the opening half but held a 16-point advantage at the break, as redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries led all scorers with 8 points.
Lindenwood began the second half with 10 consecutive points to pull within 6. After the two teams traded buckets, Indiana responded with its own 13-point run to lead by 19.
Despite their struggles, the Hoosiers finally seized control of the contest midway through the second half. They held a 24-point lead at the under-eight timeout before cruising through the final eight minutes on their way to a 20-point victory.
The Hoosiers shot a season-low 37.7% from the field and 32.1% from 3-point range. Lindenwood entered the contest averaging nine offensive rebounds per contest, but it grabbed 19 against Indiana. In total, the Lions corralled 48 rebounds to the Hoosiers’ 43.
DeVries scored a game-high 25 points while fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson added 10 points.
Indiana will now have five days until its matchup with Kansas State University at 8 p.m. Nov. 25 inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The contest will be televised on FS1.
CORRECTION: This story was updated with the correct number of schools included in the KenPom rankings.
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.
