INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana men’s basketball held a sizable crowd advantage inside the sold-out Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The No. 22 Hoosiers were welcomed with overwhelming cheers when they took to the court for the first time, while the No. 6 University of Louisville was showered with boos.
Although the Cardinals didn’t have the upper hand in the crowd, they did on the hardwood. Louisville scored 16 consecutive points to begin the game, leading wire-to-wire to defeat Indiana 87-78 in Indianapolis. The Hoosiers have now dropped back-to-back games and sit at 7-2.
Louisville separated itself early as Indiana struggled to defend and create open looks offensively. The Hoosiers called more timeouts (two) than total points scored over the first six and a half minutes.
After senior forward Sam Alexis got the Cream and Crimson on the board, redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries drained back-to-back 3-pointers. DeVries converted three free throws before fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson buried a longball to pull the Hoosiers within five points.
But the Cardinals responded immediately with their own 3-pointer. They controlled much of the final nine minutes of the opening half, pushing their lead to 41-27 at halftime. DeVries led the Hoosiers with nine points at the break while Louisville drained eight first-half 3-pointers.
Indiana didn’t have the same trouble to start the second half as it did the first. The Hoosiers worked their way into the Cardinals’ lead, but the latter had a response for each run.
Wilkerson drained a 3-pointer nearly six and a half minutes into the half, as the Cream and Crimson pulled within eight points. However, Louisville had yet another answer. It went on a 10-2 spurt to regain a 17-point advantage with just over nine minutes left in the contest.
The Cardinals largely cruised throughout the remainder of the game en route to a nine-point victory, handing the Hoosiers their second consecutive loss.
Tucker DeVries scored a game-high 26 points while junior guard Nick Dorn notched 15 on five 3-pointers. Wilkerson was the third and final Hoosier to reach double figures with his 12 points.
Senior guard Ryan Conwell — an Indianapolis native — led Louisville with 21 points. The Cream and Crimson shot 32.4% from 3-point range while the Cardinals knocked down 41.9% of their looks from beyond the arc.
Indiana will return to action against Penn State at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 9 inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The contest will be televised on FS1.
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.
