Lamar Wilkerson already scored 33 points when he came off a screen and caught the basketball on the left wing.
Indiana men’s basketball’s fifth-year senior guard hoisted a 3-point attempt with just under eight and half minutes left in the Hoosiers’ Monday night contest at home against Oregon.
Although the shot didn’t connect, Wilkerson drew a foul — and a connection with head coach Darian DeVries. Wilkerson sat on the floor waiting for his teammates to come to his aid. Instead, DeVries stepped onto the court and helped Wilkerson up.
The two high-fived twice as DeVries said, “I like it,” to Wilkerson, who scored 41 points in the Hoosiers’ 92-74 victory over the Ducks inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
“It's fun when you have guys like that,” DeVries said postgame. “Been around a few guys like that in my career. When they get in that zone, as long as they're on your team, it's really a joy to watch.”
Although Wilkerson missed his first five attempts from the field in the first half, DeVries had plenty to be happy about. Wilkerson made his next five shots alongside four free throws, tallying 16 points as the Hoosiers led by six at halftime.
Wilkerson continued his stellar showing in the second half with an early make from 3-point range and a layup. He made three additional 3-pointers, three 2-point shots and five free throws.
The 6-foot-6, 205-pound Wilkerson, who already scored 40 points with approximately four minutes left, had the Hoosier faithful inside the famed arena clamoring for DeVries to feed the ball to his most prolific scorer.
“Run a play for Wilkerson!” one fan yelled. “Get the ball to Wilkerson!”
All the while, with the victory in hand and Wilkerson wanting off the court, DeVries wouldn’t let him. Wilkerson was on a roll.
“So, it was pretty fun, man,” Wilkerson said.
Wilkerson added a free throw, his 41st point, before heading to the Hoosiers’ bench to end his night with less than two minutes left in the contest. He fell just three points short of tying the Assembly Hall single-game scoring record, which he set two months ago with 44 points against Penn State.
When Wilkerson is on his A-game, as he was for much of Monday night, he makes the four other Hoosiers’ jobs easier on the floor, redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries said.
“I think it started when he hits one or two, gets it going, and then it starts with a couple more play calls for him and then he hits a couple more, and at that point it's probably just get out of the way and let him cook,” Tucker DeVries said. “He does that pretty well, too.”
Wilkerson has cooked for much of the Hoosiers’ season. He scored 19 points per game throughout his first 19 games donning the Cream and Crimson but has since elevated his play to a new level.
The Ashdown, Arkansas, native has scored 28.2 points per game across Indiana’s last six. He’s shot 49.6% from the field and 34.9% from 3-point range in the Hoosiers’ 5-1 stretch.
From the day Wilkerson first walked into the Cook Hall, Tucker DeVries said the Hoosiers knew he was a knock-down shooter. But throughout his lone season at Indiana, Wilkerson has become a more complete scorer, which Tucker DeVries deemed “really impressive.”
Wilkerson’s approach isn’t the only aspect that’s developed. Darian DeVries said the guard has grown comfortable with the Hoosiers’ offense and the challenges — defensively, creating plays and making them — the coaching staff has presented him.
“Now you're seeing kind of the full package of what he's able to do,” Darian DeVries said. “He had a few extra ones (moves) out there I hadn't seen before that were pretty cool, so that was as impressive of a second-half performance as I've seen.”
Wilkerson has elevated himself into rarified air in terms of Indiana’s history.
Only five Hoosiers have ever posted multiple games with 40-plus points in a season: Don Schlundt in 1954-55, Jimmy Rayl (twice in 1961-62 and 1962-63), George McGinnis in 1970-71 and now Wilkerson. An Indiana player has reached 40 points just four times in a single game since 1990. Half of those are Wilkerson.
After Indiana defeated Wisconsin on Saturday, when Wilkerson willed the Hoosiers to victory in overtime, Darian DeVries said Wilkerson is the type of guy who will play in the NBA for a “long, long time.”
“He has all the things you need, the intangibles, in addition to, like, he has that one skill that everybody wants, and he can throw them in there,” Darian DeVries said Saturday. “And he's a winner. I love everything about him, and he continues to showcase what makes him so special.”
Wilkerson’s 41-point showing Monday only emphasizes his head coach’s evaluation. The Hoosiers sit at 17-8 and 8-6 in conference play largely because of Wilkerson’s high-level play.
Indiana has six final regular-season contests, the Big Ten Tournament and a potential NCAA Tournament selection remaining this season. The Hoosiers will always have a chance to win those contests, Darian DeVries said, because of Wilkerson.
“That's a special player,” Darian DeVries said.
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.
