After a couple of slow starts in exhibition games this preseason, the new look Hoosiers hit the ground running in the season opener against Alabama A&M.
The Bulldogs opened the scoring on their first possession,
getting three points on an and-one off of a foul from Tucker DeVries. Then Lamar Wilkerson made a 3-pointer off an assist from Conor Enright, followed by a dunk from Tayton Conerway and Indiana got a lead that it never surrendered.
Wilkerson had all four of his made threes in the first half, accounting for two-thirds of Indiana’s points from behind the arc in those opening 20 minutes. Sam Alexis, who made just four threes at Florida last year, also hit one, as did DeVries en route to his 2000th career point.
After a hot shooting start to the game, the floor opened up for Indiana in the second half and allowed the Hoosiers some easy looks in the paint. By the game’s end, Reed Bailey was the leading scorer with 21 points, all without even attempting a three.
While Darian DeVries indicated that he was hopeful earlier this week that Nick Dorn would be able to play, he ultimately never checked in for Indiana. Other injuries to bench players kept Indiana to a core rotation of eight guys until it was garbage time, when a trio of walk-ons checked in for four minutes each.
Defensively, Indiana was able to use its athletic advantage to nab seven steals and force 11 turnovers. The Hoosiers also out-rebounded Alabama A&M by a 42-19 margin, an impressive statistic for a team that may be surrendering a lot of size to opponents as the season progresses.
Overall, tonight’s game was an impressive start to the Darian DeVries era. The offense looked faster, crisper, and obviously more capable of shooting and the defense did what was asked of it against an inferior opponent.
Indiana will face a completely different test this coming Sunday at the United Center against Marquette, which should be a better barometer for how much this can translate over the course of a season.
