Fast Start – Basketball Hoosiers Thrive with Resilience, Experience

Wednesday, November 12

Bloomington, Ind.

7:00 PM

Indiana University

Milwaukee

Fast Start – Basketball Hoosiers Thrive with Resilience, Experience

11/12/2025 1:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – You know this can't continue, right, this Indiana basketball domination with its basically a 100-point-a-game offense and 3-pointers raining from all over the court, even half court (think Conor Enright)?

Or can it?

Entering Wednesday night's game against Milwaukee (2-1) at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers (2-0) couldn't have asked for a better beginning to the Darian DeVries coaching era and they're doing it despite a lack of full health (Nick Dorn, Josh Harris, Jason Drake, Aleksa Ristic, and Andrej Acimovic have yet to play) and imposing size.

Offensively, they are shooting 55.6% overall, 46.2% on 3-pointers and 90.0% from the free throw line. They also average 25.0 assists and 9.5 turnovers a game. Defensively, they force 13.0 turnovers and limit opponents to 35.7% shooting overall, 29.0% from 3-point range.

What's the secret for the early success?

Maturity, for one thing. IU hit the transfer portal hard to bring in veterans such as Tucker DeVries, Lamar Wilkerson, Tayton Conerway, Enright, Reed Bailey, and Sam Alexis.

"We have a very resilient group," Darian DeVries says. "We have a lot of guys who have played a lot of basketball. It's a veteran group for the most part, then we have some younger guys that are sprinkled in there as well."

In fact, IU has 11 players who are juniors or older, five freshmen, and one sophomore.

"It's very early in the year," Darian DeVries says, "but I like the approach this team takes every day. I like the way they approach practice. I like the way they are in tune to a scouting report and how they prioritize that because all those little different areas and buckets are what eventually lead to you winning and losing. Our guys do a good job of kind of taking it all in and making it a priority."

IU's ball movement, crisp passing and ball sharing reflect that.

"They're just good basketball players," Darian DeVries says. "They understand it. I think they prioritize winning. None of them really care who gets the credit. They talk about it every day.

"It's like, I watch them do this in practice all the time. So, one day, (Conerway) may get one shot. There might be a day he gets 10 shots. He doesn't care. He plays to win. That's what this whole group has really bought into. They'll continue to get better and better because it's important to them."

IU's lights-out perimeter shooting, Coach DeVries told Voice of the Hoosiers Don Fischer during Monday night's Inside Indiana radio show, starts with sharing the ball.

"It's not always about who's making them," DeVries told Fischer, "It's the connectivity of the offense and that's what leads to one guy getting a shot opportunity."

Consider Tucker DeVries, a 6-foot-7 do-it-all forward. His big Hoosier debut week -- highlighted by a 27-point, six-3-pointer effort in a blowout win over Marquette -- earned him Big Ten Co-Player of the Week honors with Ohio State's Bruce Thornton.

That followed an 18-point, 11-rebound, four-assist performance in the season-opening win over Alabama A&M.

The result – DeVries leads IU in scoring (22.5 points), rebounding (8.0), and 3-point shooting (58.8%). He also averages 3.0 assists.

Then there's Wilkerson, who averages 21.0 points and 5.0 assists with a team-leading five steals.

Darian DeVries told Fischer that Wilkerson "loves to shoot," but is also capable of running the team as a pass-first point guard, which became a necessity against Marquette when mounting foul trouble sent Conerway and Enright to the bench. Wilkerson finished with eight assists.

And when levity is needed, Coach DeVries added, "He's always got jokes. I'm not sure they're really that good of jokes, but he's fun."

Other main contributors are Alexis (15.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, team-leading 76.9% shooting), Bailey (13.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 72.7% shooting), Conerway (9.0, 60.0% shooting, team-leading 13 assists) and freshman Trent Sisley (8.5 points, 4.0 rebounds).

During Monday night's Inside Indiana Basketball radio show, Darian DeVries told Voice of the Hoosiers Don Fischer that Sisley did "a really good job" last week, especially against Marquette when the Hoosiers were dealing with major foul trouble.

"He just competes at a high level all the time," Coach DeVries told Fischer. "There's no shutoff button with him."

Defensively, he told Fischer, "We're growing as a defense, but still have things to work on."

Milwaukee is coming off a 92-72 home victory over Little Rock. Amar Augillard led with 25 points and six three-pointers. Seth Hubbard added 18 points, including the 1,000th of his career.

Hubbard is one of three double-figure scorers. He averages 19.3 points and shoots 53.3% from 3-point range. Augillard averages 12.3 points. Stevie Elam averages 10.3. Milwaukee has 25 steals.

Darian DeVries told Fischer that Milwaukee is very similar to Marquette, including a lot of pressing and being aggressive in transition.