Indiana men’s basketball had played well for stretches this season, but, until tonight, lacked the quality win to show for it. The Hoosiers had suffered some bad losses, and let good wins slip away, making Tuesday night’s matchup with Purdue even weightier than the usual rivalry game.
Darian DeVries had his group ready for the matchup out of the gate, keeping Purdue off balance with good ball movement offensively and constant pressure on the defensive end. His group also appeared to have the edge energy-wise, outrebounding the Boilermakers 15-13 in the second half.
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It wouldn’t have been a good win if Purdue hadn’t fought back in the second half, testing Indiana’s ability to weather a storm. We’ve seen this team crack in that situation plenty of times already this season, but with Curt Cignetti and the football team in attendance, Indiana could not lose tonight.
Here are 3 Takeaways from the game:
Nick Dorn
If there is a silver lining to Tayton Conerway’s injury, which kept him out of the lineup entirely tonight, it’s been the emergence of Nick Dorn. Dorn has started the last two games, shooting a combined 10-19 from 3-point range over those games and establishing himself as one of Indiana’s primary scoring threats.
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Matt Painter knew coming into this game that Indiana would rely on the shooting from deep. Like most coaches entering tonight’s game, though, he focused the bulk of his defensive energy on Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson, two more established shooters on this roster.
Dorn’s emergence as a third perimeter threat will really create matchup problems in the Big Ten, especially once Indiana gets Conerway’s athleticism and driving ability back in the lineup.
Besides being another perimeter threat, Dorn created shots for himself both at the rim and from behind the arc, adding another layer to an Indiana offense that has already been able to overwhelm opponents with ball movement and shooting volume.
The full 40 minutes
Without Conerway, Indiana once again had to contend with a short bench, something that’s plagued DeVries in second halves this season. Between the off-ball motions, the emphasis on fast breaks, and the defensive pressure he demands, it’s a hard style of basketball to play with just eight guys in the rotation.
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The offense faltered a bit down in the final five minutes, when it looked like guys got tired, stopped cutting, and started chucking shots. At the same time, Trey Kaufman-Renn started asserting himself on the offensive end, wearing down a tired defense for easy buckets and trips to the free throw line.
While the Hoosiers have failed to weather such surges before, tonight they did just enough to emerge victorious. It wasn’t a blowout that would dispel too many of the aforementioned concerns, at least until Conerway returns and adds some depth, but seeing this group take that punch and survive is huge.
The Gameplan
Another reason that Dorn’s emergence for Indiana has been so crucial is that it helps DeVries compensate for the lack of size on the roster. Going up against a Purdue team that likes to play Kaufman-Renn alongside another center, DeVries was able to weaponize the shooting against the Boilermakers’ length.
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When Indiana did penetrate, it was usually to facilitate a pass to the perimeter, where Indiana was shooting well tonight. With so much of the offense coming from the outside, Matt Painter played his two main centers, Oscar Cluff and Daniel Jacobsen, fewer than 20 minutes each, effectively neutralizing the size difference.
The smaller lineup also got Kaufman-Renn out of his comfort zone for stretches. He turned the ball over three times tonight, also missing five free throws in what will be a forgettable performance for the Purdue forward.
For his first appearance in the Purdue rivalry, DeVries and his staff appear to have nailed the scout, giving Indiana a signature win to build on before a road trip out West this weekend.