Indiana men’s basketball hadn’t won in over two weeks. The Hoosiers fell in each of their last four games, with two at home and two on the road.
And although the Cream and Crimson were tasked with facing Rutgers at Jersey Mike’s Arena — a place they hadn’t won since 2018 — the Hoosiers defeated the Scarlet Knights 82-59 Friday to improve to 13-7 overall and 4-5 in conference play.
Fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson led the Hoosiers with 27 points, while junior guard Nick Dorn and redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries added 23 and 22 points, respectively.
DeVries began the contest with a 3-pointer from the right wing before adding another longball three minutes later. The Hoosiers led by six points at the halfway point of the first half before going on an 11-3 spurt to increase their advantage to 14.
The Cream and Crimson held a 47-32 lead at the break, as DeVries led the squad with 16 points while Dorn and Wilkerson had 14 and 13, respectively.
Tasked with trimming their deficit, the Scarlet Knights opened the second half with a 3-pointer. However, Indiana still held control. The Hoosiers bumped their advantage to 20 points with 15 minutes left in the game.
Although Rutgers pulled within 12 points with just over 11 minutes left, Indiana was in command throughout the rest of the contest en route to the victory.
The Hoosiers shot 50% from the field and went 15 for 35 from 3-point range — tied for their second-most longballs in a game this season.
The Hoosiers now return home to face archrival Purdue at 9 p.m. Tuesday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The matchup will stream on Peacock.
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.
