Indiana was down 23 points in the first half, then dug deep, stayed together and found its way to a blowout win over Mega Superbet.
Down 23, reeling and struggling to find any sort of momentum or rhythm, Indiana was faced with adversity for the first time as a new group. The question everyone was asking; how would they respond.
After Indiana cruised to a game one win on Wednesday, its matchup with Mega Superbet on Saturday was quite different. They were a longer, bigger and a tougher team and immediately knocked Indiana back with the physical style of play.
Before Indiana could blink, a 23-point deficit read on the scoreboard. Then, the response. Indiana found a way, through the defensive intensity of Tayton Conerway and Reed Bailey, to tread water and go into the half down just 13 — a win by many standards.
“I thought it was great for us to be honest with you. You know, you come into a game — I thought their physicality really bothered us that first 10 minutes. But I really like the way the guys responded,” head coach Darian DeVries said after the 93-71 win. “They got punched in the mouth a little bit. Down 23. There’s a lot of different ways that game can go from that point. I just like the way they kind of pulled together, dug in and fought harder and didn’t try to do it on their own.”
After a first half when Indiana struggled to defend on the perimeter and in the paint, halftime adjustments were made and it resulted in a massive shift in momentum. Indiana quickly jumped to an 8-0 spurt out of the gates and eventually went on a 22-4 run and turned the tide in a major way.
Live Game Updates: FINAL – Indiana 93, Mega Superbet 71
In total, Indiana outscored Mega Superbet 58-23 in the second half.
Following the initial 44-21 deficit, Indiana would go on to outscore Superbet 72-27.
“I thought at halftime they really adjusted to some of the things that they were doing to us defensively and were able to take it and change the mindset of how we wanted to attack them,” DeVries said. “And then defensively, I thought they did a good job, too, of being more disciplined in what we were doing on that end of the floor. And we were encouraging them to get stops, you know.”
While Indiana’s ability to score in bunches was on display, it was the defense that lifted Indiana to its Saturday night win. Between Tayton Conerway’s ball pressure, Reed Bailey’s quick hands or Tucker DeVries diving on the floor for loose balls, the energy and enthusiasm on the defensive end of the floor flipped the script for the Hoosiers.
On the other end, Lamar Wilkerson led five double-digit scorers with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 4-of-7 from three.
“We just played with more physicality. At first they were punking us, be more physical, getting the extra plays we needed. Allowing them to get offensive rebounds and stuff like that,” Wilkerson said. “Once we started turning that away and getting out in transition and started to run, that’s where the tables turned.”
Indiana gets back on the floor for a rematch with Mega Superbet on Monday morning — its final game of the Puerto Rico exhibition trip.
For DeVries, the goal of the trip was to continue to bond, build chemistry and learn even more about this group. Saturday encapsulated all in one.
“As a new team with a bunch of new guys on it, you have to learn how to win together and overcome some adversity at times,” DeVries said. “This was a great opportunity for us to do that.
“I think when you’ve got a group of guys and we’re, you know, way early in the preseason with things, but for them to pull together in an adverse situation like this, I don’t know how they’re going to respond, you know, and this was our first opportunity to see. And I like the way they pulled together.”
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Category: General Sports
