Quick thoughts on a 92-74 win against Oregon:
How it happened
Oregon, fresh off a competitive four-point loss to Purdue on Saturday, was up to the challenge Monday night in Assembly Hall. The Ducks, 1-11 in the Big Ten entering the game, got strong starts from guards Wei Lin and Drew Carter, who are not known for their scoring. Lin had nine points in the first half and Carter five, helping Oregon build a 19-14 lead at the 7:42 mark of the first half. But Indiana got a response in the form of Lamar Wilkerson, who earned a Big Ten player of the week award. Wilkerson got hot to close the half and had a game-high 16 points at the break on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. The Hoosiers outscored Oregon 22-11 in the final seven minutes of the first half to claim a 36-30 lead at halftime.
Indiana came out of the locker room sharp, scoring 14 points in less than four minutes, forcing Oregon coach Dana Altman to call a timeout with the Hoosiers leading 50-36 at the 4:07 mark. Wilkerson had five points in the stretch, as did Tucker DeVries, while Sam Alexis added four. The Hoosiers opened a 55-40 lead on a Wilkerson 3-pointer and led 59-49 at the under-12 media timeout. At 9:34, Indiana cut the lead to 14 points on another Wilkerson 3-pointer, giving him 31 points. At the under-eight media timeout, Indiana led 74-58 and Wilkerson had 35 points. A three-point play by Reed Bailey pushed the IU lead to 77-58 with 7:26 left. Nick Dorn’s 3-pointer extended IU’s lead to 20 points at 83-63 with 6:05 to play. At the final media timeout, Wilkerson had 40 points and IU’s lead was 87-69 and the Hoosiers were on their way to their eighth Big Ten win and fifth in their last six games.
Notable artists
Wilkerson led the Hoosiers with 41 points on 13-for-20 shooting, including a 6-for-12 mark on 3s and 9-for-11 from the free-throw line. Alexis went a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and scored 16 points with five rebounds in 25 minutes. DeVries also had 15 points and seven assists in 33 minutes.
Statistics that stand out
The Hoosiers shot 81.8 percent in the second half and made all 11 of their two-point field goal attempts. IU scored 56 points and 1.81 points per possession over the final 20 minutes.
Next step for IU
Indiana is off until Sunday. The Hoosiers travel to Champaign to take on No. 8 Illinois at 1:00 PM ET on CBS.
Final individual IU stats
Latest pace free stats
Assembly Call after the game show
See more: Commentary, Oregon Ducks
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