Heading into Big Ten play, Indiana men’s basketball had the conference’s fourth highest points per game. Minnesota was seventeenth. The Hoosiers boasted the nation’s second-best assist-to-turnover ratio and sat at No. 22 in the Associated Press’ top 25 poll. The Golden Gophers were on a three-game losing streak.
But Wednesday night’s matchup told a different story, as Minnesota outdueled Indiana 73-64 in a hard fought game inside Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
Sixth-year senior guard Tayton Conerway opened the scoring with a dunk off a dribble handoff from redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries. On Indiana’s next possession, Minnesota doubled DeVries up high and senior forward Reed Bailey slipped past the defense for the Hoosiers’ second dunk in as many possessions.
After converting its first five attempts from the field, Indiana’s next three shots were all 3-point misses from DeVries. For the rest of the half, the Cream and Crimson’s shooting percentage dwindled.
With thirteen and a half minutes to play in the first, freshman guard Aleksa Ristic checked into the game, making his Indiana debut. The Niš, Serbia, native had been sidelined with a foot injury. Ristic subbed out after three minutes and was not utilized for the rest of the game.
In addition to lacking consistency on the offensive end, the Hoosiers allowed the Golden Gophers to snag eight offensive rebounds and collect 14 second chance points in the first half. Minnesota senior wing Cade Tyson knocked down a second chance 3-pointer to tie the game at 33 right before the end of the half.
The Hoosiers controlled much of the first half, but Minnesota took a three-point lead by the under-16 media timeout in the second. Indiana didn’t hit a field goal in the second half until freshman forward Trent Sisley hit a 3-pointer just over four and a half minutes into the half.
As the second half wore on, the Cream and Crimson’s shooting struggles continued. An 8-0 Golden Gopher run gave Minnesota a five-point lead, and a right wing triple from junior forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson extended the lead to 53-45 as Indiana head coach Darian DeVries called a timeout with 9:25 to play.
Facing an eight-point deficit against a heating up Minnesota squad, the Hoosiers turned to their stars. Fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson buried a left wing triple off a shot fake as the shot clock expired to stop the Golden Gopher run. Wilkerson followed it up with a block and then a steal that set up Tucker DeVries for a wide open 3-pointer to cut the lead to two.
But it wasn’t quite enough to stay in the game. A Crocker-Johnson layup sealed a 9-2 Minnesota run that brought the lead back to nine with just over five minutes to play, and the Hoosiers just couldn’t find a rhythm on offense to make the comeback.
Despite a late Hoosier push and poor free throw shooting from Minnesota, the Golden Gophers held on for the 73-64 victory, handing Indiana a loss in its first true road game. Tyson and senior guard Langston Reynolds led Minnesota with 17 points each.
Conerway finished with a game-high 18 points, and Wilkerson ended with 15. Senior forward Sam Alexis added 10, and redshirt senior guard Conor Enright dished out seven assists. The Cream and Crimson were outrebounded 40-25 and shot 40% from the field.
Going forward, it doesn’t get any easier for Indiana, as the Hoosiers will look to bounce back from their first loss of the season in a matchup with No. 6 University of Louisville at 2 p.m. Saturday inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
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.
