At the Buzzer: Indiana 98, Alabama A&M 51

Reed Bailey scores at the rim.

Quick thoughts on a 98-51 win against Alabama A&M:

Key moments in IU’s win

Lamar Wilkerson’s hot start

Lamar Wilkerson’s regular-season debut as a Hoosier got off to a strong start.

By the under-12 media timeout, the Sam Houston transfer had 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting, including a 3-for-4 mark on 3-pointers.

Wilkerson made IU’s first 3-pointer, made a 3-pointer and was fouled and then hit a 3-pointer from way beyond NBA range. That third triple stretched the IU lead to 18 points at 23-5 and forced an Alabama A&M timeout.

Indiana’s first half free-throw parade

Indiana’s first-half offensive performance – 58 points and 1.57 points per possession – was due in part to its ability to get to the line.

The Hoosiers attempted 14 first-half free throws and made all of them. IU’s free-throw rate (FTA/FGA) in the first 20 minutes was over 45 percent.

Reed Bailey was 7-for-7 from the line in the first half, Sam Alexis was 4-for-4, Tayton Conerway made both of his attempts and Wilkerson made his only attempt.

Bailey’s back-to-back dunks put IU up 40

In the span of 15 seconds in the second half, Conerway and Bailey hooked up for a pair of dunks that brought the Assembly Hall crowd to its feet.

At the 16:41 mark of the second half, Conerway found Bailey off a roll to the basket for an easy two-handed dunk.

And after Conerway took the ball from Sami Pissis on the next Alabama A&M possession, Conerway threw a pass off the backboard in transition to Bailey, who flushed a thunderous dunk and gave IU a 40-point lead.

Standout performers

Bailey finished with a team-high 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field. Wilkerson had 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting, including a 4-for-10 mark on 3s. Tucker DeVries surpassed the 2,000-point mark for his career and finished with 18 points. DeVries also had 10 rebounds and four assists.

Two other Hoosiers finished in double figures – Sam Alexis had 17 points on 6-for-7 shooting – and Tayton Conerway finished with 14 points and five assists.

Statistics that stand out

Indiana shot 62.1 percent from the field, a perfect 16-for-16 from the free-throw line and had 23 assists on 36 made field goals. The Hoosiers allowed only .73 points per possession.

Final IU individual statistics

Final tempo-free statistics

Assembly Call postgame show

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