Connect with us

Indiana

Indiana basketball is ahead of schedule, indicated by win vs Marquette, but has plenty to improve

Published

on

Indiana basketball is ahead of schedule, indicated by win vs Marquette, but has plenty to improve


play

  • Tucker DeVries scored 24 of his game-high 27 points in the first half, setting the pace for a blowout win.
  • Lamar Wilkerson added 23, 15 in the second half, each of Wilkerson and DeVries hitting six 3-pointers in IU’s win.

CHICAGO — Indiana basketball’s traveling party was in an expedient mood Sunday afternoon, as members traded quiet fist bumps and back slaps inside the basement hallways of the United Center.

Darian DeVries took a few moments in the stands with family, but otherwise moved through his postgame duties with the same efficiency his team had just displayed in a 100-77 win against Marquette. Flanked by his son, Tucker, and another former Drake Bulldog, Conor Enright, Darian DeVries worked the press room front to back, then pointed his team toward the bus.

Advertisement

There was something akin to a snow hurricane floating out over Lake Michigan, threatening to drop feet, plural, of November snow onto Chicago, and no one here was interested in getting stuck in the Second City.

Nothing could slow the Hoosiers down Sunday.

“We talked about it before the game, just staying composed,” DeVries said. “We couldn’t let [Marquette’s] presses and their tenacity on defense speed us up. We needed to stay within ourselves and trust the offense, trust our movement and I thought the guys did that.”

No team should be fully formed right now, and no one should rush to conclusions about this one after just two games that count. But whatever Marquette (2-1) becomes or doesn’t across the next four months, there’s an awful lot to be said for the proof of concept the DeVries era is already showing, and for the basic, inherent value of momentum at this time of year.

Advertisement

Beyond just the win, that’s what Indiana (2-0) gets for being willing to test itself so early in the season.

DeVries got those extra practices and games because of his decision to take the Hoosiers to Puerto Rico this summer, undeniably leaving his team better prepared than the average in Week 1.

Preparation still does not guarantee results. Nothing that’s happened up to this point, since DeVries took the job in March, has spoken so well of his credentials as watching his team take apart arguably the best Big East program other than UConn across the last three years.

“It was overall a great team effort from our guys,” DeVries said. “Really proud of a lot of different contributions that we got tonight.”

Advertisement

It started with his son.

Tucker DeVries scored 24 of his game-high 27 points in the first half, at times personally overwhelming a Marquette team that could not seem to look past its own dogmatic philosophies to realize the damage they were causing.

While the Golden Eagles played at a pace too fast for the decisions they were making and the shots they were putting up, DeVries epitomized an Indiana team comfortable playing fast and almost totally in control of itself. He hit five of his six 3s in the first half, contributing significantly to a teamwide 14 of 28 performance from distance.

“That was obviously a big performance from Tuck in the first half,” Darian DeVries said. “Just got us going.”

Lamar Wilkerson shouldered the load after halftime.

Advertisement

Once Marquette finally adjusted, and fouls started to pile up, Wilkerson stepped in for his equally dangerous teammate and put on a second-half clinic that rivaled what Tucker DeVries had done in the first.

Wilkerson scored 15 of his 23 points after halftime, all of them on 3s. He also finished with a career-high eight assists, compared to zero turnovers. In the same way Tucker DeVries’ first-half shooting set Indiana’s range, Wilkerson’s passing both sides of halftime headlined an afternoon Indiana finished with 27 assists to just eight turnovers, as an entire team.

“That’s something that I really like about this team: We have a lot of different guys that are capable of having moments like that throughout the game,” Darian DeVries said.

Perhaps none quite so meaningfully as that senior duo. But Sunday did endorse the idea that — especially as this team finds its depth in the coming weeks — the Hoosiers understand how to make their strengths consistently outweigh their weaknesses.

There are still those weaknesses.

Advertisement

Indiana did a better job on the boards Sunday, but their lack of size won’t resolve itself anytime soon. And the Puerto Rico foul trouble we thought might just be about issues with international rules doesn’t look so right now. The Hoosiers have committed 43 fouls through four regulation halves of basketball.

“We need to do a better job,” Darian DeVries said. “We got a little handsy at times. We’ve got to clean that up. We have to be physical with discipline.”

Two games into the season, though, after a performance like that one, DeVries might consider those champagne problems. He knows what his team is and is not, and crucially, his team seems to understand that as well.

The Hoosiers look comfortable with what makes them tick, where they need to cover up and how they win. And they’ve got the confirming evidence of a meaningful win five days into the season to back that up.

It’s a start, but it’s a good one.  

Advertisement

Want more Hoosiers coverage? Sign up for IndyStar’s Hoosiers newsletter. Listen to Mind Your Banners, our IU Athletics-centric podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the latest on IndyStar TV: Hoosiers.



Source link

Indiana

Suspect in custody after Muncie triple shooting leaves 1 woman dead, 2 men injured

Published

on

Suspect in custody after Muncie triple shooting leaves 1 woman dead, 2 men injured


MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — Police are investigating a triple shooting that took place on Muncie’s south side Sunday evening that left a woman dead and two men injured.

According to police, at approximately 5:27 p.m., Muncie Police Officers were dispatched to the 2700 block of South Walnut Street in reference to reports of several people being shot.

Officers arrived and located three gunshot victims: A 23-year-old female who died from “multiple wounds,” a 39-year-old male who is hospitalized in stable condition, and a 40-year-old male who was airlifted to an Indianapolis hospital in critical condition.

Police say a suspect is in custody, a 21-year-old man.

Advertisement

Police did not provide any additional information.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Muncie Police Detective Division at 765-747-4867 or dispatch at 765-747-4838.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Indiana

Indiana Pacers exec apologizes to fans after losing first-round pick

Published

on

Indiana Pacers exec apologizes to fans after losing first-round pick


play

The Indiana Pacers lost 63 games this season for a chance at a franchise-changing lottery pick. On Sunday, May 10, they lost that chance, too.  

Advertisement

All Pacers president Kevin Pritchard could do was apologize for taking the risk.  

Indiana’s pick landed at No. 5 in the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery, one spot outside the top four protections attached to a midseason trade. The selection now belongs to the Los Angeles Clippers . 

Shortly after the results were announced, Pritchard took social media and apologized.   

“I’m really sorry to all our fans,” Pritchard wrote. “I own taking this risk. Surprised it came up 5th after this year. I thought we were due some luck.”

Advertisement

The Pacers entered the lottery with a 52.1% chance of securing a top-four pick after finishing 19-63, the second-worst record in the NBA. It wasn’t enough.  

Indiana sent Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, a 2028 second-round pick and a 2029 first-round pick to Los Angeles in the midseason deal for Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown, along with the conditional 2026 first-rounder. The pick was theirs to keep only if it landed in the top four.  

Zubac appeared in just five games for Indiana after the trade because of a fractured rib.

Advertisement

“This team deserved a starting center to compete with the best teams next year,” Pritchard wrote. “We have always been resillient.” 

Pritchard will have to be resilient if he looks at the replies to his statement. About half of the Pacers fans’ comments were not happy, and fans of other teams called him out for “tanking.”  

There were also a large number of fans who were supportive of Pritchard taking that risk.  

Tyrese Haliburton is expected to return next season after tearing his Achilles in last year’s NBA Finals. The Pacers will have him Pascal Siakam and a roster they think is built to compete. They just won’t have that first-round pick to add to it.  

Advertisement

The 2026 NBA Draft begins June 23 in Brooklyn.  



Source link

Continue Reading

Indiana

Why Caitlin Clark went back to Indiana Fever locker room in season opener

Published

on

Why Caitlin Clark went back to Indiana Fever locker room in season opener


play

INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark has some new strategies to help keep her loose throughout games, and one garnered a lot of attention in the Indiana Fever’s season opener against the Dallas Wings.

Saturday was Clark’s first regular season WNBA game since July 2025, when she suffered a right groin injury against the Connecticut Sun. She was limited to just 13 games last season because of various injuries that compounded and lingered throughout the season, including to her left groin, right groin, left quad, and ankle.

Advertisement

Clark, who finished with 20 points, five rebounds and seven assists in 30 minutes, went back to the Fever’s tunnel twice throughout the 107-104 loss, and she said postgame it was just to get her back readjusted. It’s something new for the Fever star after she missed most of last season because of various injuries, but she didn’t report any major issues with her back.

“It gets out of line pretty quickly,” Clark said. “It’s just that, getting my back put back in place a little bit, but other than that, I feel great.”

Buy Caitlin Clark merch!

Clark also started wearing a heat therapy pad on her back as well when she’s on the bench, but that doesn’t automatically mean an injury, either. Former Fever player Natasha Howard wore one while sitting on the bench the entire 2025 season, and she did not miss a game.

Advertisement

These back issues, Fever coach Stephanie White said, shouldn’t keep her out of the game.

“We wouldn’t have played her 30 minutes if she wasn’t OK,” White said.

Clark’s response postgame came after ABC’s commentators reported in-game that trainers were working on Clark’s hip flexor and groin area — the same that kept her out of most of the 2025 season. When asked about ABC’s in-game report, White said: “That would be the first time I’ve heard that.”

Fever communications staff added that they did not provide an official update to ABC on why Clark left for the tunnel, so everything reported on the broadcast in-game was speculation.

“I think it’s just part of maintaining the body,” White added of the tunnel trips. “… I mean, look, when we’re all really young, we don’t learn proper mechanics, and then it doesn’t get exposed until something happens, and we’re trying to get her body mechanically the way it needs to go. This is gonna be an ongoing thing, and not just her. We’ve had multiple players who have gone back, and we don’t have a blue tent, right, but they’re gonna go back and get it adjusted and make sure that the body’s working.”

Advertisement

Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at chloe.peterson@indystar.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. Subscribe to IndyStar TV: Fever for in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes coverage and more.



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending