Indiana men’s basketball knew it would have its hands full ahead of its matchup with the No. 6 University of Louisville. The Cardinals entered the matchup with one of the best backcourts in the country, headlined by freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. and senior guards Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneely.
The Cardinals were the first ranked team the Hoosiers saw this season. And right from the start, it was evident Indiana had not been faced with such a demanding task and opponent. The Hoosiers were simply overwhelmed from the jump in their 87-78 loss to Louisville on Saturday inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Within the first six minutes of action, Indiana found themselves down 16-0, with the Cardinals scoring from all facets of the court. In fact, five different Cardinals scored during the run, including 3 pointers from redshirt senior forward Aly Khalifa and McKneely, layups from sixth year-senior forward J’Vonne Hadley and Conwell and a dunk from junior center Sananda Fru.
Indiana was rattled by the Cardinals’ relentless and physical defense and was unable to score a bucket until 13:28 remained in the first half.
The Hoosiers were taking damage from all areas of the floor early and had to adjust to the pace and level of physicality they were seeing for the first time this season.
Ahead of Indiana’s matchup with Louisville, the Hoosiers had not yet faced an opponent within the top 70 of the Ken Pom ranking, which could explain the 16-0 start they allowed the Cardinals to have.
However, after settling in, Indiana did eventually adjust to the playing style and played competitively with the Cardinals. Yet it was never enough to take control of the game.
While the Hoosiers did a good job of shutting down some of the Cardinals' key offensive players, they would in turn open opportunities for other players on Louisville’s roster.
The depth of the Cardinals and their scoring options proved to be costly for Indiana, despite the defensive efforts from the Cream and Crimson. Indiana ultimately had to choose their battles.
“But overall, they did a really good job,” Indiana head coach Darian DeVries said postgame. “We just lost McKneely a few times. And then I even thought, you're picking and choosing something. Their two bigs hit a couple of threes in the first half. There's things that you're probably living with, but they make them. Those are part of that stretch of getting us down and behind. Those things are hard to overcome against really good teams.”
The Hoosiers shut down the offense of Brown Jr., holding the projected 2026 NBA lottery pick to a single digit scoring performance and just 2 of 8 shooting from the field. But in turn, the Hoosiers gave up opportunities to other players, which the Cardinals made them pay for.
While the defensive priority may have been Conwell and Brown. Jr., McKneely wound up with five 3-pointers and 15 total points.
“Yeah, the defensive end, again, I thought those guys did a really good job,” DeVries said. “Mikel Brown, he's getting drafted, he's probably a top five pick. Ryan Conwell’s their leading scorer, he's a really good player. And then you talk about McKneely as the third guy that you've got to worry about from a shooting standpoint. They just put a lot of pressure on your defense from stretching you out.”
The depth and task of keeping up with all of Louisville’s offensive options proved too much for the Hoosiers to overcome in their first top 25 matchup of the season.
Redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries and junior forward Nick Dorn led the Hoosiers offensive efforts with 26 and 15 points, respectively. While fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson added 12.
While the Hoosiers were unable to overcome its early struggles, they put up a fight until the end and were exposed to a high demanding game — something Indiana needed to happen and something that will help the Hoosiers in the long run.
Now that Indiana has faced a top team, it will be more prepared and know what to expect.
The Hoosiers will look to carry the lessons learned into it’s next stretch of games against a 8-1 Penn State team on Tuesday and No. 18 University of Kentucky on Dec. 13.
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.
