The Minute After: Minnesota

Photos from IU basketball's 77-47 win against Minnesota at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Thoughts on a 77-47 win against the Golden Gophers:

It took 23 days and four straight losses, but Indiana finally found a win.

Sure, this Minnesota team has a depleted roster, with only six players playing rotation minutes tonight. (A seventh, Maximus Gizzi, entered the content briefly in garage time.) As a result, Minnesota’s defensive strategy changed since beating the Hoosiers in December. After hounding Indiana on the perimeter in man-to-man defense in that game, the Golden Gophers resorted to zone for long stretches in this game out of necessity. It was one the Hoosiers had little issue carving up.

Still, with nothing going IU’s way of late, no guarantees or gimmees, it’s a relief to finally win one. And win it comfortably at that.

Against the zone in the first half, Indiana fed Sam Alexis continuously in a multitude of ways. Straight post-ups. From the soft middle. Lobs as he moved on the baseline. Alexis was his typical hyper-efficient self in the first half, converting on 8-of-9 field goals and 1-of-2 at the line for 17 points. For the game, he scored a season-high 23 points (9-of-11 from the field, 5-of-8 from the line).

Indiana balanced the inside scoring of Alexis with a strong night from 3-point range. The Hoosiers made 10-of-24 (41.7 percent) from distance. That’s their best percentage from long-range since a win against Rutgers on Jan. 23 (42.9 percent) and tied for their sixth-best percentage in a game so far this season. Lamar Wilkerson (16 points) hit 4-of-7. Tucker DeVries (13 points) made 3-of-5. Nick Dorn (11 points) went 3-of-8 from downtown. Tonight marked Dorn’s first time in double-figures since Indiana’s last win, against Oregon, on Feb. 9.

The Hoosiers also emerged ahead tonight in stats they don’t usually do. They outscored Minnesota 13-5 in second-chance points and also cruised 17-3 in points off turnovers.

Outside of Cade Tyson (21 points, 7-of-14), Indiana held Minnesota to an inefficient night from the floor. The rest of the Golden Gophers mustered just a 10-of-39 (25.6 percent) shooting performance. Minnesota made only 5-of-21 (23.8 percent) from deep and mustered a paltry .77 points per possession. That’s the lowest points per possession from an Indiana opponent this entire Big Ten season, and actually the third-lowest of the entire year, with only Alabama A&M (.73) and Lindenwood (.75) being held lower.

And unlike we’ve seen at other times this season, Indiana didn’t let a halftime lead slip away. Up 15 at the break, Indiana doubled that in the end, winning this one by 30 points.

“I thought the guys really had a complete 40 minutes tonight from start to finish on both ends of the floor,” Darian DeVries said after the game. “Defensively, that was about as good and connected as we’ve been.”

With the door still slightly ajar for the NCAA tournament, Indiana will definitely have at least one more shot at a Quad 1 win. That’ll happen on Saturday at Ohio State. And, as things stand now, it might be two cracks at it. If the Hoosiers can pick up a win in their first game of the Big Ten tournament, they’ll likely get another shot at a Quad 1 victory on Thursday next week in the third round.

Things are going down to the wire in DeVries’ first season at the helm. We’ll soon see where things shake out.

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