After dropping four straight contests, Indiana men’s basketball rebounded with a comfortable 82-59 victory over Rutgers on the road Friday. The win marked the Hoosiers’ first road triumph over the Scarlet Knights since 2018.
Indiana’s dominance was highlighted by a resurgent performance from redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries. After failing to reach 20 points for over a month, DeVries tallied 16 first-half points en route to a 22-point outing as the Hoosiers cruised past Rutgers.
Joining DeVries in double figures were fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson and junior guard Nick Dorn, who scored 27 and 23 points, respectively. The Hoosier trio combined to outscore the Scarlet Knights 72-59.
Dorn, who missed Indiana’s first two games recovering from injury, gives the team “one more guy that can go get four, five, six threes and space the floor,” Indiana head coach Darian DeVries said in a virtual press conference Monday.
“It gives us, you know, some advantages there to maybe get more downhill,” DeVries said, “and I thought we were able to get a little more of that in the Rutgers game.”
Sam Alexis led the Cream and Crimson’s defensive effort. The 6-foot-9 senior forward posted a career-high six blocks as the Hoosiers allowed their lowest scoring total in conference play.
“I liked our activity at both ends of the floor,” DeVries said. “I thought defensively we were able to be pretty connected, got a lot of stops and a lot of iso situations in that game too.”
Before taking down Rutgers, the Hoosiers’ losing streak featured marquee matchups against the Big Ten’s best. The Cream and Crimson have fallen to each ranked opponent they’ve faced this season — then-No. 6 Louisville, then-No. 10 Nebraska, then-No. 12 Michigan State and then-No. 3 Michigan.
Indiana will seek its first ranked victory in a rivalry matchup with No. 12 Purdue (17-3, 7-2 Big Ten) on Tuesday night.
Shared history
Tuesday night’s contest will mark the first time DeVries takes on the Boilermakers while at the helm of Indiana. However, it won’t be the first time that DeVries has coached against Purdue head coach Matt Painter.
DeVries began as a graduate manager at Creighton University from 1998-2001 before serving as assistant coach for 17 years under Dana Altman and Greg McDermott. Before Creighton joined the Big East Conference in 2013, the Bluejays competed in the Missouri Valley Conference, where Painter coached at Southern Illinois University from 1998-2004.
“I've followed him for a long time, and he does such a great job,” DeVries said. “From just a coach-to-coach standpoint, being able to follow his career and watch how he's continued to evolve and, you know, at both ends of the floor, he just does a good job with, you know, everything.”
Meet the Boilermakers
Purdue is led by first-team All-American senior guard Braden Smith, who averages 15.2 points per game and leads the nation with 9.3 assists per game. Smith, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, has produced six double-doubles and scored 20 or more points in six games this season.
“Nobody's really been able to slow him (Smith) down because he's just so elite at having a feel for where the ball needs to go and understanding coverages and being able to, you know, play make from it,” DeVries said. “He just has that just unique knack to have a late decision-making pass and it really stretches your defense in every way possible.”
In addition to Smith, the Boilermakers also feature a pair of senior bigs who each average double figure scoring. Oscar Cluff scores 11.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game on 75.8% from the field, while Trey Kaufman-Renn adds 12.5 points and a team-leading 8.6 rebounds per contest.
Purdue also grabs 11.2 offensive rebounds per game, an effort spearheaded by Cluff and Kaufman-Renn, who are both top five in the Big Ten in offensive rebounding.
“They present a lot of problems because of their physicality and ability to put you in some hard spots and, you know, they know what they're doing,” DeVries said. “They know where they want to get their angles, they know where to get their space, and then, you know, elite offensive rebounders.”
In addition to physicality and playmaking, the Boilermakers also make teams pay from beyond the arc. Purdue leads the Big Ten in 3-point shooting, connecting on 38.3% of their attempts. Senior guard Fletcher Loyer leads the team with 46 3-pointers on the season, ranking eighth in the conference.
Purdue has collected wins over three ranked teams, beating then-No. 8 University of Alabama, then-No. 15 Texas Tech University and then-No. 21 Auburn University. The Boilermakers are coming off a narrow defeat to then-No. 11 Illinois on Saturday.
Indiana will aim to grab its first victory over a ranked opponent in the 222nd meeting between the Hoosiers and the Boilermakers. The game is slated for 9 p.m. Tuesday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. Coverage will be available 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.
