The Minute After: Marian

Sam Alexis dunks the ball.

Thoughts on a 107-46 win against Marian:

A new era begins with a bang.

Since arriving on campus, Darian DeVries preached 3-point shooting, spacing, ball movement and playing hard. It was all on display tonight. The Hoosiers made 12 3-pointers in the first half. To put that in perspective? Last season, Indiana’s high for a game was 12 3-pointers, set against Rutgers on Jan. 2. IU finished the first game of the D Rock era making 50 percent (15-of-30) from deep. Tucker DeVries led the way with a 5-of-7 performance. Freshman Trent Sisley wasn’t far behind with a perfect 4-of-4 clip. Conor Enright (2-of-3), Lamar Wilkerson (2-of-6), Tayton Conerway (1-of-2) and Reed Bailey (1-of-1) also joined the party.

Bombs away.

It helped the Hoosiers to a blistering 1.49 points per possession with an effective field goal percentage of 69. Indiana shared the ball well, racking up 27 assists on 39 made field goals. Off-ball movement was strong. After Conerway’s lone 3-pointer at the 9:27 mark of the first half, the Hoosiers were up 31-4 and this game felt well in control.

On defense, particularly in the first half, Indiana kept up its intensity despite a big lead. The Hoosiers forced shot clock violations and did a good job of pressuring the ball and staying in front of their men without fouling.

This one got so out of hand that once the Hoosiers got up by as much as 60 points midway through the second half, Indiana started trotting out walk-ins as Ian Stephens subbed in with 9:28 to go in the contest.

DeVries showed why he was one of the best portal pickups in the country. He scored Indiana’s first nine points and finished 7-of-9 from the floor, finishing with 23 points in 22 minutes of action. The West Virginia transfer also dished out a team-high six assists and had a couple of nice back-to-back passes in the second half to Sisley. The first one was for a 3-pointer. The second saw Sisley finish a thunderous dunk, making the ensuing free throw after he got fouled.

Speaking of Sisley, he tied DeVries with 23 points of his own with an 8-of-10 mark from the floor, including the aforementioned 4-of-4 from distance. Those 23 points came in 26 minutes of action. Early in his college basketball career, Sisley continues to turn heads.

“I’m really excited about the things he’s doing and he continues to grow and get better every day,” Darian DeVries said post-game.

Sam Alexis led Indiana on the boards with 10 rebounds and chipped in 13 points (6-of-9). Bailey (4-of-6) and Conerway (4-of-7) each had 10 points. Jasai Miles somehow fouled out of this game in just 13 minutes of play. Indiana was ho-hum from the free-throw line, making just 14-of-23 (60.9 percent).

It’s one game, an exhibition against an NAIA team that finished 11-17 last season. Still, it’s not hard to see that Indiana basketball has undergone a radical transformation in style. But just what that means for the regular season ahead is anyone’s guess right now.

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

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