Indiana basketball appears to be getting hot, and just in time to face its in-state rival.
The city of Bloomington is experiencing a bit of an abnormal January this year, with all eyes being on their football team. And even over a week after the Hoosiers brought home their first national title, along with an undefeated season, it’s still hard to turn attention to what is normally being focused on this time of year: basketball.
Plenty of Indiana fans have admitted to the fact that they don’t really know much about what is going on with their basketball team right now. However, no matter the state of the team, the Indiana and Purdue rivalry will always draw interest, and it was no different Tuesday night when the Boilermakers came to Bloomington for their first matchup with the Hoosiers of the season.
Going into this game, the two teams were in fairly different positions. Purdue, ranked No. 12 and on a two-game losing streak, falling to UCLA and Illinois. Indiana had no way to drop in the top 25 rankings, but came off an 82-59 win at Rutgers. This would be Darian DeVries and his new Indiana team’s first game against the Boilermakers, and they undoubtedly made a statement against their in-state rival.
Both teams came out hot, and what started out as a close game eventually came to Indiana being up 40-29 at the half. It was somewhat hard to believe considering the makeup and experience of these two teams being so different. It should be noted that there was a slight football presence on the floor as Curt Cignetti was sitting courtside and watching very intently.
Going into the second half, it was evident that for the Hoosiers to hold on, they would need to come out strong. Thanks to a Conor Enright three-point shot 13 seconds into the half, Indiana was able to do just that. Enright ended up being a huge deciding factor in the win over Purdue as he played a full 40 minutes guarding Purdue star Braden Smith and providing eight points for Indiana. In a post-game press conference, Enright explained how there was a big emphasis put on defense going into the game.
“The rivalry kind of just, you know, brought out the great defense, and it was everybody. The bigs hedging, the guys pulling over and tagging, there was five guys covering the ball every single time,” Enright said.
Defense played a large factor in Indiana’s win, for example, only allowing Smith to shoot 2-for-8 from beyond the arc, but there were also standout performances on offense that ultimately led to the Hoosiers being able to take down the Boilermakers. Lamar Wilkerson led the way in scoring, putting up 19 points along with 7 rebounds and 3 assists. Nick Dorn was also a huge asset to the Indiana offense, providing 18 points and 2 rebounds.
Between the lingering excitement from the national championship and the crowd that this rivalry always draws, Assembly Hall lived up to its stereotype in college basketball. With fans packing the arena to the top and staying until the end, it made for an extremely tough environment for the away team. Coach Devries gave high praise to the Indiana fans in a postgame press conference.
“I want to thank this crowd for their efforts tonight because that’s a huge deal in college basketball. When you’ve got a home court like we have, that’s a huge advantage, and when that place is loud and rockin’ like that, it’s a big big deal for us. So thanks to everyone that came out and brought the noise themselves,” said Devries.
Indiana basketball walked away victorious with a final score of 72-67. This game is a big deal for the college basketball world every time it is played, but it has garnered more attention as it was a significant upset. Not only that, but it looks as if the two teams are going in opposite directions. Purdue now sits at a three-game losing streak and will look to break this when they travel to Maryland on Sunday. Indiana is now on a two-game winning streak, appearing to be getting hot at the right time in the season and starting to put the pieces together on both ends of the court.
These two teams will face each other again this season, this time in West Lafayette on Feb. 20, for what is sure to be an intense match-up. But for now, the Hoosiers will go on a West Coast swing, starting with UCLA on Saturday and USC on Tuesday.