Indiana men’s basketball returned to Big Ten play Sunday against Washington following a 26-day gap between conference contests. Despite the break, the Cream and Crimson came out firing and earned their second Big Ten victory 90-80 inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
The Hoosiers made each of their first five field goal attempts, all of which were 3-pointers. Sixth-year senior guard Tayton Conerway got the scoring started with two longballs, but redshirt senior guard Conor Enright quickly matched Conerway with two 3-pointers of his own. Conerway made a third shot from beyond the arc as Indiana raced out to 15 points in the first four minutes of the game.
However, the Huskies didn’t allow the Hoosiers to grab the early momentum. Washington senior guard Desmond Claude drilled two 3-pointers and scored inside to keep Washington from falling behind. As the game entered its first media timeout, the Hoosiers and the Huskies were a combined 11 for 13 from the field as the score sat tied at 15.
Coming out of the break, a dunk from graduate center Franck Kepnang and a 3-pointer from senior guard Quimari Peterson capped off a 7-0 Washington run. But a Conerway layup both halted their momentum and began a Hoosier run. Enright, senior forward Reed Bailey and junior guard Nick Dorn all scored alongside Conerway to strike back with a 13-2 Indiana run to take a 30-24 lead nearly halfway through the first frame.
After a series of exchanging buckets that included back-to-back twos from former Hoosier sophomore forward Bryson Tucker, Indiana launched another 6-0 run to extend its lead to 10.
Conerway ended the first half with 18 points while Enright added 11 points and three assists. The Cream and Crimson shot 66.7% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc in the first half as they took a 52-40 lead into the break.
To start the second half, both teams’ scoring slowed. Six free throws and three missed 3-pointers from Indiana enabled the Huskies to cut the lead to four on a mid-range jumper from Claude. Kepnang denied a fast break dunk attempt from Indiana freshman forward Trent Sisley to keep the score at 54-50 entering the under-16 media timeout.
Fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson drained his first 3-pointer of the game amid another 8-0 Hoosier spurt before Sisley scored each of Indiana’s next 10 points as the Cream and Crimson’s lead swelled to 12 points with 12 minutes remaining.
From then on, the offense ran through Wilkerson, as 18 of his 22 points came in the final 20 minutes. The Ashdown, Arkansas, native drilled a contested top of the key 3-pointer, assisted a Dorn 3-point jumper, scored a layup and knocked down a free throw to temporarily hold off Washington. But a 6-0 Husky run ensued that cut the Hoosier lead down to nine points with under six minutes to play.
Washington brought Indiana’s lead down to as little as six, but a Wilkerson right wing 3-pointer put the Hoosiers back in control, a position they held for the rest of the game.
The Cream and Crimson finished the night shooting 52% from the field on 43% from beyond the arc. The Hoosiers outrebounded the Huskies 33-29 and Wilkerson’s 22 points led the team to a 90-80 win over Washington.
Indiana will now turn its attention to Maryland, as the Hoosiers will play the Terrapins in their second road conference game at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday inside the XFINITY Center in College Park, Maryland.
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.
