Indiana men’s basketball renewed its rivalry with the University of Kentucky in a 72-60 loss Dec. 13. Foul trouble forced fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson to play only 22 minutes against the Wildcats, marking his second lowest total of the season.
Wilkerson and redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries scored 15 points each, but the duo shot a combined 9 for 24 from the field. Sixth-year senior guard Tayton Conerway added 11 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Hoosiers’ season-high 18 turnovers.
After vaulting to a 49-42 lead with 14 minutes to play, Kentucky finished the game on a 30-11 run. Indiana couldn’t find ways to score down the stretch, and the Wildcats pulled away for the win. The collapse marked a stark contract from how the Hoosiers played in their previous game, a 113-72 drubbing of Penn State.
Against the Nittany Lions, the Cream and Crimson had no shortage of offensive options, none more potent than Wilkerson. The Ashdown, Arkansas, native knocked down a program record 10 3-pointers and poured in a Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall record 44 points and earn Co-Big Ten Player of the Week honors.
Senior forward Reed Bailey and junior guard Nick Dorn joined Wilkerson, DeVries and Conerway in double-digit scoring as the Hoosiers rolled to their first Big Ten victory under head coach Darian DeVries. However, the offensive outburst was short lived, as the Cream and Crimson followed their season-high effort with a season-low 60 points inside Rupp Arena.
Tucker DeVries has gone back-to-back games without reaching 20 points for only the second time this season, and despite moving into the starting lineup, senior forward Sam Alexis hasn’t reached double figures since the Hoosiers’ loss to Minnesota on Dec. 3.
Indiana has lost three of its last four games. The Hoosiers are 0-2 on the road and 1-1 in the Big Ten. The Cream and Crimson are coming off a monumental second half collapse against Kentucky.
Yet they still won’t be the coldest team inside Assembly Hall on Saturday.
Meet the Cougars
Chicago State University has played in more athletic conferences than it’s had winning seasons since joining NCAA Division I ahead of the 1984-85 season. The Cougars haven’t finished above .500 since 2008-09, and they've never made the NCAA Tournament.
Chicago State currently sits at 2-10, with nine of its losses coming on the road. The Cougars are led by first-year head coach Landon Bussie, who spent the last five seasons leading Alcorn State University.
Despite coming off the bench in five of the eight games he’s played, junior guard Doyel Cockrill III leads Chicago State with 15.1 points per game on 44.7% shooting from beyond the arc. Cockrill III adds 2.5 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game.
Senior guard Marcus Tankersley adds 14.7 points per contest, while senior forward CJ Ray tallies 10.8 points and a team-high 4.3 rebounds per game.
The Cougars only attempt 17.1 3-pointers per contest, turn the ball over 13.3 times a game and give up an average of 84.1 points. Throughout 12 games this season, Chicago State lost by 20 or more on seven occasions. In two contests against Big Ten opponents — Minnesota and Iowa — Chicago State lost by an average of 25.5 points.
Indiana and Chicago State last met in 2018 when the Hoosiers trounced the Cougars 104-55. The Hoosiers are undefeated against Northeast Conference teams all time, and they’ll put that perfect record on the line at 1 p.m. Saturday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. Coverage of the game will be available on B1G+.
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.
