After suffering through some slow starts the last couple of times out, the Indiana Hoosiers hit the ground running against Kansas State. Indiana had eight points before the Wildcats got on the board, locking in on both ends of the floor to build an early lead.
Between forcing turnovers on defense and making 3-pointers on offense, the Hoosiers got out to a 20-4 lead with a chance to put the game on ice with just a little over ten minutes to play in the first half.
From there, Indiana’s offense stalled
a bit, going over five minutes without a point scored and nearly seven minutes without a made field goal. Trent Sisley broke the drought with a layup, assisted by Tucker DeVries, who struggled as a scorer tonight.
Luckily for head coach Darian DeVries, Indiana’s defense mostly held tight for that half, never letting the lead slip away.
Once the offense found its rhythm again in the final five minutes of the first half, the game was effectively over.
Coming off the bench, Sisley was a big part of that offensive spark, finishing the half with eight of his 12 points. Tayton Conerway also had eight points in the first half, with each of them making 3-pointers while some of Indiana’s more dependable scorers struggled.
Defensively, Conor Enright did a standout job against KSU’s leading scorer, P.J. Haggerty, who was visibly frustrated with his six turnover performance and 7-17 shooting night.
Foul trouble tested Indiana down the stretch, as all of Sam Alexis, DeVries, Enright, and Lamar Wilkerson finished the game with four fouls.
DeVries got enough out of his bench to close things out comfortably though, riding another hot start to the half to coast to an 86-69 victory, moving Indiana to 6-0 on the year.
