WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Indiana men’s basketball’s frustrations began early.
When Purdue senior guard Braden Smith missed the Boilermakers’ first shot attempt of Friday’s contest, Lamar Wilkerson looked to pounce. But the fifth-year senior guard, who leads the Hoosiers in scoring, traveled just before the shot clock expired on Indiana’s first possession.
The Cream and Crimson then allowed Smith to drain a wide-open 3-pointer — Purdue’s first of 10. Indiana head coach Darian DeVries quickly motioned with his left hand to not leave Smith open. His frustration was evident.
From the Boilermakers’ second possession onward, the Hoosiers had no answer. Whatever the hosts did worked. Whatever the visitors tried to accomplish didn’t. A 93-64 beatdown — Purdue’s largest victory over Indiana since 1969 — ensued inside Mackey Arena in West Lafayette. Despite beating Purdue less than a month ago in Bloomington, the Hoosiers fell to 17-10 overall and 8-8 in conference play with four regular-season games remaining.
“Nights like these are hard,” DeVries said postgame.
Once Purdue jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, the 14,876 fans — nearly all clad in black and gold — had plenty of reason to cheer. Whether it was Indiana’s early foul trouble, a failed two-for-one opportunity at the end of the first half or an airballed 3-pointer, the Hoosiers turned in a lackluster performance.
Less than 20 minutes after the final buzzer sounded, DeVries, who was asked postgame about his team’s focus through the final stretch of games, had turned his attention toward Indiana’s Tuesday contest against Northwestern.
DeVries said his squad will be ready and focused as they have been all season long.
“We played two really good teams, got beat on the road,” DeVries said. “Disappointed that we weren't, maybe certainly more competitive in the games to make it come down to the stretch, but we got to let those go.”
The Hoosiers can’t hold on to Friday’s result for long, DeVries said.
But, as Tucker DeVries explained, they can learn from it.
The redshirt senior forward said the Cream and Crimson can use Friday’s 29-point thumping — less than a week after a 20-point loss to Illinois — to prepare for what lies ahead.
Indiana returns to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall for a crucial three-game homestand against Northwestern, No. 15 Michigan State and Minnesota before its regular-season finale at Ohio State.
“I mean obviously it's pretty difficult,” Tucker DeVries said. “But I think it's important for us to understand that we got some big four games coming up down the stretch, and we're playing for a lot right now.”
Victories in all three home contests may be enough to secure the Hoosiers’ NCAA Tournament berth in their first season under Darian DeVries. For Indiana, a team that’s seemingly struggled with raucous road environments, it’ll now get to impose its home-court advantage with its postseason life on the line.
Even though Friday’s contest delivered an embarrassing loss in a hate-filled rivalry, the Hoosiers still have everything to play for. That starts with Northwestern, a team Darian DeVries said “we got to go beat.”
“And that’s a Northwestern team that’s put up a good fight every single night,” Darian DeVries said. “So, we got to go home and we got to take advantage of being at home now. And that’s our main priority.”
When Indiana opted to begin a new era of Hoosier basketball with Darian DeVries, an NCAA Tournament berth was certainly in mind. Friday showed the Hoosiers aren’t exactly on their rival’s level consistently yet, but a strong finish to the season could leave a lasting positive memory of Darian DeVries’ first season.
But allowing a 29-point thumping to snowball? That certainly won’t.
“It's right here,” Darian DeVries said. “It's that stretch run right now. So, the only thing that matters is your next one. And we got to go home, get ready. We’ve got a couple days to do it. So, Tuesday's the next big one. And that's what our focus will be.”
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.
