Indiana men’s basketball earned an 86-69 win over Kansas State on Tuesday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana.
The Hoosiers came out swinging, with early 3s and free throws building
up a 20-4 lead just six and a half minutes into the matchup. While the offensive production cooled off some in the first half, the defense held firm to keep the Wildcats in check. Kansas State made a run in the second half, but Indiana held on strong to secure a blowout home win.
Here’s five things we learned:
- Indiana’s defense looked fantastic against one of the country’s most potent offenses heading into the matchup. The Wildcats hadn’t scored less than 84 points heading into this game and managed just 69, with some scores at the end making the margin look more generous. P.J. Haggerty, who led the country in scoring with 28 points per game, was held to just 16 points on 7/17 shooting from the field.
- The 3-point shooting wasn’t ideal, but Indiana kept finding ways to score anyway. The Hoosiers finished having hit 10 of their 33 attempts from long range, just 30.3%, but got to the free throw line 29 times, turning it into 22 points.
- Tucker DeVries, as this team will need him to do, kept affecting the game despite a lack of scoring. He scored 9 points on 4/11 from the field with all of those points coming in the second half. He pulled down six rebounds and dished out five assists, which led all Hoosiers on the night. Indiana’s going to need those savvy, veteran plays all season and he’s more than capable of making them.
- Reed Bailey led all Hoosiers in scoring with 21 points despite taking just seven shots. Darian DeVries seemed to get on him a bit after a poor first half saw him put just 7 points on the board on 1/4 shooting. He responded by using his strength down low in the second and finishing through contact, adding 14 points on 3/3 from the field and 8/9 from the free throw line.
- There were still a few errors worth noting. Indiana had 15 assists and 17 turnovers, with the latter proving pretty glaring at times despite the Hoosiers’ lead. That’s something to go over on tape ahead of the next matchup.
