Indiana men’s basketball overcame a slow start and sustained attacks from the Milwaukee Panthers before finally pulling away late to win comfortably, 101-70.
The Panthers came out ready for Indiana’s attempts
to push the ball in transition, forcing the Hoosier offense to slow down more and settle into a half court set. Through the first five minutes, the strategy appeared to be paying off, with Indiana unable to build a big lead.
In those opening five minutes, Lamar Wilkerson made a pair of 3-pointers, which wound up being Indiana’s most reliable offense on the night. Wilkerson made a couple from well beyond the arc in the first half, late in possessions when the Milwaukee defense had otherwise gotten the better of Indiana.
Even behind a strong shooting performance from Wilkerson, Indiana struggled to really pull away from Milwaukee until the second half. At one point, the Hoosier lead grew to 10 before the defense gave up the rare, unfortunate five point play to let the Panthers stick around.
Head coach Darian DeVries made his displeasure with the defense known, calling a quick timeout in the first half the first time Milwaukee pulled back within five points around 12 minutes in a half.
The Hoosiers took an 11-point lead into halftime, but Milwaukee was able to draw within nine again the second half before Indiana really pulled away. The turning point may have been a pair of free throws from Tucker DeVries, who had just two points in the first half before heating up to finish with 12.
At the end of the day, Indiana was able to wear down the Milwaukee defense the same way it has every defense so far this year – with a barrage of threes.
Wilkerson finished with a game-high 24 points on 7-12 from behind the arc, part of a 14-28 performance from three from Indiana. Freshman Trent Sisley also went 2-2 from deep off the bench, while all of Indiana’s starters made at least one 3-pointer.
Indiana moves to 3-0 on the season, with Incarnate Word coming up this Sunday.
