'They Prioritize Winning': How Indiana Basketball's Offense Exploded vs Marquette

CHICAGO — As the final seconds of the first half ticked away, Indiana men's basketball senior guard Conor Enright embraced contact, picked up the ball, leapt off one foot and fired a heave toward the rim while crossing halfcourt.

Enright stared, waited and eventually watched as his prayer was answered. The Mundelein, Ill., native hadn't yet made a field goal nearly 60 minutes into his Indiana career, but he saw one fall in stunning fashion.

Then, he turned and walked back to the locker room. There were no elaborate celebrations, merely an intent on building upon a 56-38 halftime lead over Marquette.

Indiana (2-0) never let its lead dwindle to single digits, surging to a 100-77 victory over Marquette (2-1) on Sunday afternoon at the United Center in Chicago.

And yet, Indiana coach Darian DeVries joked he had a regret: That Enright didn't get the chance to carry his momentum into the second half.

"We should have probably built off Conor's half-court shot at half," DeVries said, smiling. "He was hot. He should have gotten another one after halftime."

Enright, seated to DeVries' left, smiled. DeVries made his remark in jest, but he wasn't kidding about the reasoning behind it.

Indiana shot 50% from the floor and went 14-for-28 shooting from 3-point range Sunday. The Hoosiers averaged 1.37 points per possession, and they dished 27 assists while committing only eight turnovers.

Through two games, Indiana is shooting 55.6% from the field while going 24 of 52 from beyond the arc. The Hoosiers, who beat Alabama A&M 98-51 in the regular season opener Nov. 5, are 36-for-40 shooting at the free throw line while averaging 99 points per game.

The key to Indiana's offensive success, DeVries said, starts with ball movement and a desire to find quality shots.

"They're just a really unselfish group," DeVries said postgame. "And what leads to some of the scoring opportunities we get is the guys really understand the game."

Indiana understands momentum, too.

When redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries had the hot hand in the first half — he went 8-for-12 shooting, including 5 of 7 from distance, for 24 points — the Hoosiers routinely found him. The same held in the second half, when sixth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson caught fire and went 5-for-7 shooting from deep.

In each instance, the rest of Indiana's roster helped, be it setting off-ball screens or hunting them in half-court sets. There are no egos, no ball-hungry players within the Hoosiers' offense. There's just a desire to win and a selflessness that aids the mission.

"I think they're just good basketball players," DeVries said about the Hoosiers' ball movement. "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."

DeVries used sixth-year senior guard Tayton Conerway, who had four points and eight assists on 0-of-3 shooting against Marquette, as an example.

"One day, TC may get one shot. There might be a day he gets 10 shots. And he doesn't care," DeVries said. "He just plays to win, and that's what this whole group, I feel like, has really bought into right now. And they'll continue to get better and better because it's important to them."

Indiana's passing acumen is further emphasized by its treasure chest of shot-makers.

Tucker DeVries and Wilkerson led the Hoosiers in scoring Sunday, posting 27 and 23 points, respectively. Freshman forward Trent Sisley added 15 points, while senior forward Sam Alexis tallied 13 points and five rebounds.

In the season-opener, Conerway scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting while senior forward Reed Bailey posted a team-high 21 points. They combined for just nine points against Marquette, but they factor into the equation of Indiana's explosive offense.

Such depth in scorers — headlined by prolific options in Wilkerson and DeVries — makes the Hoosiers dangerous.

"That's a little bit how our team was built, just having different guys that can always get in one of those zones a little bit," Darian DeVries said. "Tucker certainly had it in the first half. And then the second half, Lamar got going.

"That's something I really like about this team; we have a lot of different guys that are capable of having moments like that throughout the game. So, it was overall a great team effort from our guys and really proud of a lot of different contributions that we got tonight."

Marquette's defense, known for its on-ball pressure, forced only three turnovers in the first half and five in the second. The Golden Eagles scored just 11 points off turnovers, which Enright noted postgame was an emphasis for the Hoosiers in practice.

"Just playing tough and playing strong, off two feet," Enright said about limiting giveaways. "With turnovers, that's how they get their offense. So, we thought if we could limit that, we would limit them in their transition game. I think we did a really good job of that, and we practiced it a lot in practice, so it worked out."

The scoreboard reflects it. Indiana notched its first 100-point scoring output since a win over Kennesaw State on Dec. 29, 2023, and its first such performance against a high-major team since Nov. 30, 2021, in a double overtime loss to Syracuse.

But this Indiana team is dramatically different from its recent predecessors. They may wear the same candy-striped pants and represent the same university, but the DeVries-led Hoosiers play selfless, make shots and operate with unrelenting energy.

And on Sunday, the qualities culminated in a head-turning, early-season statement win.