The Indiana men’s basketball team got back on the win column in convincing fashion tonight, posting a 77-47 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers in Minnesota for their first win since early February. It was a revenge win, an exhilarating win and potentially the one that revives Indiana’s NCAA tournament hopes with one game left in the regular season.
The Indians looked like a desperate team tonight, jumping out to a 20-6 lead in the first few minutes led by Sam Alexis, who scored nine of the first 20 points. He scored a season-high 23 points, plus nine rebounds and two blocks. He leads or is tied for the team-high in all three categories.
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When the Golden Gophers took a 19-22 lead with 8:45 left in the half, the atmosphere in the Hall became tense. Unlike the Northwestern game, though, Indiana was able to stop the bleeding and score more points on offense.
After Cade Tyson’s free throws cut the game to three, Darian DeVries got back to Alexis for another layup to give Indiana some breathing room. The Indians got another drive and DeVries gave Alexis another look to give the Indians a seven-point lead.
Seventeen of Alexis’ 23 points came in the first half as Indiana continued to score easily in the paint against Minnesota’s zone defense and man-to-man offense. The Hoosiers performed well defensively, though, allowing just nine points in the final nine minutes after allowing Minnesota its first and only score at the end of the first half.
That defense set the tone for the second half, as Indiana held Minnesota to 19 points. Crucially, the Indians outrebounded the Gophers 21-9 in the final 20 minutes.
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Overall, Indiana got the win it needed tonight, with enough of a margin to inspire confidence heading into the remaining games, all of which the Hoosiers will likely need to win to keep their NCAA Tournament dreams alive.
