Indiana men’s basketball took to the floor inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Monday for its nonconference finale with a 13-day break between games ahead of it.
But before the Hoosiers go on their condensed break, Siena University stood in the way of their 10th victory this season. Indiana had largely no issue emerging with the 81-60 victory in Bloomington.
Fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson led all scorers with 23 points, while redshirt senior guard Tucker DeVries and sixth-year senior guard Tayton Conerway added 16 points apiece. Freshman forward Francis Folefac paced Siena with 19 points and four rebounds.
The Hoosiers began the contest with 11 consecutive points, as Wilkerson, DeVries and Conerway connected on shots before the Saints scored just under four minutes into the game. The Cream and Crimson pushed their lead to 19 points with just over seven minutes left in the half, as senior forward Sam Alexis slammed home Conerway’s alley-oop.
Siena cut its deficit to 14 points with just over five minutes until halftime, but Indiana responded with a 14-2 run to take a 26-point advantage into the locker room.
Wilkerson and DeVries led all scorers at the break with 19 and 12 points, respectively. They combined to go 5 for 12 from range in the opening half.
Much like Indiana’s last two contests — against the University of Kentucky and Chicago State University — the Hoosiers struggled in the second half.
Siena outscored Indiana by eight points over the first 10 minutes of the second half and pulled within 15 points during that stretch. However, the Hoosiers extended their lead back to 21 with junior guard Nick Dorn’s 3-pointer with just over nine and half minutes remaining.
The Cream and Crimson maintained at least a 20-point lead throughout the rest of the contest, cruising to a 21-point victory over the Saints.
Indiana now has a 13-day break until it resumes Big Ten play, so the Hoosiers are free to return home until practice Saturday.
Former Hoosier Bryson Tucker — who spent last season in Bloomington — will make his return to Bloomington at 8 p.m. Jan. 4, as Indiana (10-3, 1-1 Big Ten) welcomes Washington (7-4, 1-1 Big Ten) to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
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.
