Indiana men’s basketball often points to its preseason tour to Puerto Rico as a critical week-long trip in a transfer-filled team’s jelling process.
While the Hoosiers’ tour of the U.S. territory included team-bonding activities like snorkeling, jet skiing and beach volleyball, they also played three exhibition contests. The three victories were meaningless toward Indiana’s regular-season record, but when the Hoosiers overcame a 22-point deficit Aug. 11, 2025, against Mega SuperBet, it was the first sign of Indiana’s resiliency some 1,891 miles away from home.
When the Hoosiers squandered their 13-point second-half lead Saturday against Wisconsin, they drew from experience to secure a 78-77 victory over the Badgers inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
“That was where you saw a little bit of like these dudes don't quit,” Indiana head coach Darian DeVries said postgame. “They keep competing. They keep fighting. I think you saw it again tonight.”
Indiana began its first home contest in nearly two weeks with a 7-0 run and eventually led by as many as 14 points past the midway point of the first half. However, the Badgers outscored the Hoosiers by eight points throughout the final 8:06, cutting their deficit to six points at the break.
The Cream and Crimson bumped their lead to 13 points with 13 minutes left in the second half. The Hoosier faithful inside the sold-out arena appeared poised to see their squad cruise to a bounce-back victory over Wisconsin, which entered the day 8-3 in conference play.
Indiana instead floundered.
The Hoosiers led by just seven points when senior forward Sam Alexis made a layup with five and a half minutes left. They proceeded to miss their next 11 attempts from the field. No matter who attempted field goals, including eight combined from fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson and junior guard Nick Dorn, Indiana couldn’t connect.
First-year head coach Darian DeVries thought the Badgers did a “better job” keeping the Hoosiers in front of them as the second half progressed, contributing to misfires. Other misses, he said, were just part of life.
“I thought we had a few clean looks in there,” DeVries said. “I thought Lamar and Nick had a few looks from 3 that I'll take those every night. We just didn't make them.”
Consequently, Wisconsin outscored Indiana by 11 points and took a four-point lead with 57 seconds left. The Hoosiers desperately needed a response with an all-important victory over the Badgers slipping away. Wilkerson drained four clutch free throws in the final 50 seconds to force overtime.
First response? Check.
Again, the Hoosiers faced another deficit: three points with 56 seconds left in overtime.
Again, their resilience shone.
Wilkerson made a layup with 30 seconds remaining to pull within one point. The Hoosiers attempted to trap the Badgers and force a turnover, but were unsuccessful until senior guard Conor Enright stepped in and drew a foul.
While Enright was trying to foul senior guard Nick Boyd, he said he was “panicking” because nearly 15 seconds ticked off the clock.
“Then I just saw his shoulder go into me and figured from a foul, I might as well try and get a charge,” Enright said. “It worked out.”
The foul marked the 31st Enright has drawn this season — tied for the most nationally. Wilkerson eventually drained the game-winning free throws after drawing a foul with less than three seconds left.
Second response? Check. The Hoosiers’ 16th victory of the season and seventh in conference play followed.
“There's some things out there we'd like to clean up a bit,” DeVries said. “We get a double-digit lead there late, we don't need to go to overtime, you know. But again, they found a way. They didn't give into it. They kept fighting.”
Much like Indiana’s double-overtime victory over UCLA a week ago, the Hoosiers remained calm in their huddles even with their once-substantial lead dwindling. Enright attributed such poise to Indiana’s senior-laden roster.
Of the eight Hoosiers who played Saturday, five are in their final season of collegiate eligibility. Sixth-year senior guard Tayton Conerway, who played against USC on Tuesday after missing a pair of games with an ankle injury, didn’t play against the Badgers because of an illness.
Pointing fingers at each other wouldn’t net any positives, Enright said. Staying unified — what DeVries has preached since June — would.
“They kept, in the huddle, encouraging one another, and I think that's a sign of a veteran team,” DeVries said. “They didn't panic inside the huddle. They just knew you've just got to make that next play, and they were able to do that.”
In a day and age where college athletics are often criticized because of name, image and likeness and the transfer portal, team chemistry isn’t as common as it once was around the country.
But the Hoosiers’ connectivity can be traced back to their trip to Puerto Rico nearly six months ago. Indiana’s tenacity and resiliency was further reinforced in victories over then-No. 12 Purdue and UCLA.
Saturday was perhaps the best example this season. Coming off a sluggish loss, which DeVries said couldn’t linger, a victory in a had-to-have-it game followed.
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.
