Thoughts about A 76-74 victory against the bears:
While Indiana’s first exhibition showed off its strengths – the impressive ball movement and three-point shot on full display – the second exhibition against Baylor exposed its weaknesses.
The Bears, a different team with a brand new roster, trotted out more size, length and athleticism than the Hoosiers. That became apparent early on. Indiana struggled to control the jump, while Baylor scored several buckets at the edge of the drive. The Bears gobbled up offensive rebounds. On the other hand, Baylor took Indiana out of its stuff. The Hoosiers struggled to move the ball and find good, easy looks in their offense.
After a JJ White 3-pointer put Baylor up 13 points (31-18) with 7:42 remaining in the first half, Indiana looked outmatched.
But just as IU showed in Puerto Rico, getting up early doesn’t mean a win is out of reach. This is a group that has resilience and struggle so far. They play with a lot of energy. The collective basketball IQ is high. Get that game in and game out, and you’ll get a chance, even if the match doesn’t always seem in your favor.
So Indiana just kept going. With the 3-ball becoming harder to come by and not falling well in the first half (2-of-10), Lamar Wilkerson went to work on multiple possessions, making several mistakes. He shot 7-for-7 at the line and scored 16 of Indiana’s 36 points in the first half, a huge reason why the Hoosiers were able to go into halftime trailing by just four at 40-36. Tucker DeVries also kept the Hoosiers afloat in the first half, scoring nine points and usually making the right plays and being in the right spots. Indiana also started to improve on defense, which didn’t allow the Bears to get ahead of themselves as easily on drives.
Just before halftime, Indiana took control. The defense went one step further. The hands were in the passing and driving lanes, and Baylor struggled to assert himself. Indiana’s defense helped it get out and score on the other end, with 14 of the 40 second-half points coming off Baylor’s turnovers. Sam Alexis also provided strong rim protection for the Hoosiers as he blocked three shots.
‘We were much more aggressive defensively in the second half’ Darian DeVries said after the game.
Baylor coach Scott Drew added“They’re not as athletic as West Virginia, but they have the same defensive prowess.”
Indiana appeared to be in the driver’s seat with nine seconds left with 8:24 to go after two free throws from DeVries, but Baylor didn’t go quietly. The Bears followed with a 7-0 run to cut the lead to two points at 64-62 with 5:15 to play. And after the Hoosiers extended the lead back to six, Baylor’s ensuing 8-0 run put the Bears ahead by two points at the 2:10 mark. Indiana looked a little gassed and sluggish on offense during that run and it could have fallen into the losing bracket.
But the Hoosiers remained steadfast. Wilkerson reached the line twice and hit all four free throws on an afternoon when Indiana made 20-of-21 from the charity stripe. DeVries made a clutch baseline jumper off a Wilkerson drive with 45 seconds left to put the Hoosiers up one point, 74-73.
And with the score tied at 74, after Michael Rataj split a pair of free throws on a double bonus opportunity, Tayton Conerway, high guard in the half court, drove past his defender, got into the lane and hit a smart layup for the game-winning bucket, missing Indiana’s only free throw of the game as he also fouled on the make.
Cameron Carr missed a three-pointer and Dan Skillings Jr.’s putback attempt. fell flat after the final possession of the game.
This was a good game for Indiana’s new staff and team to get on the schedule. It gave the Hoosiers experience against a top-quality program, allowing them to work through some mismatches.
And it once again showed the early resilience of the Darian DeVries era.
See more: The minute after, Baylor Bears
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