Despite having an undefeated record through the early part of the season, the Indiana basketball team has noticed some messes that it would like to clean up.
The Hoosiers (4-0) will get a chance to fix their mistakes when they tip off against Lindenwood (2-3) on Thursday evening in Bloomington, Ind.
Indiana is coming off a 69-61 home win against Incarnate Word on Sunday. The Hoosiers survived for the single-digit victory despite missing 30 of 53 shots from the field and shooting 5 of 24 from 3-point range and 18 of 26 from the free-throw line.
Indiana forward Tucker DeVries said he and his teammates needed to learn from the bumpy performance as they looked ahead to the Thursday contest.
“I think at the end of the day it’s important to still find a way to win games when shots aren’t falling,” DeVries said. “I know it didn’t look pretty, but that’s part of growing. I think there is a lot we can take away from that as we look at it.”
Indiana coach Darian DeVries, the father of Tucker DeVries, agreed with his son’s assessment.
“I like learning after wins,” the coach said. “That’s much better.
“We’ve got to be a very spirited, physical, tough-minded group for 40 minutes every night. That’s how we’re going to win.”
Five players are averaging double-digit scoring for Indiana to start the season.
Lamar Wilkerson leads the way with 18.8 points per game on 48% shooting. Tucker DeVries is next with 17.8 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game, and Sam Alexis is scoring 12.3 points per contest.
Tayton Conerway (12.0 points per game) and Reed Bailey (11.8) also are chipping in.
Lindenwood is led by Jadis Jones, who is putting up 17.3 points per game. Dontrez Williams (12.7 ppg) and Milos Nenadic (12.4) round out the top three scorers.
The Lions are coming off a 74-65 loss at Alabama A&M on Sunday after defeating Charleston Southern 83-77 two days earlier.
Lindenwood coach Kyle Gerdeman said a tough nonconference schedule can help his group in the long run.
“We just challenge our guys all the time to play every possession as well as they can,” Gerdeman said.
