Indiana Basketball Eyes Purdue Rematch, Mackey Black-Out: 'Need to Play Very Well'

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — In the moments after securing his first marquee win as Indiana basketball's head coach, Darian DeVries didn't first thank his team, nor his assistants, nor his administration. He went to the Hoosiers' student section and shared a moment rooted in gratitude for lifting Indiana past archrival Purdue.

The crowd, DeVries later said, was the biggest key to the Hoosiers' 72-67 win Jan. 27 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Not the 19 points from senior guard Lamar Wilkerson or 18 points from junior guard Nick Dorn. Not the clutch 3-pointer from senior guard Conor Enright with just over one minute remaining. Not the strong defensive efforts against a quality Boilermaker offense.

Now, as the two sides collide for a rematch Friday night at Mackey Arena, the fans' impact switches hands. Led by the "Paint Crew," the student section named after Purdue coach Matt Painter, West Lafayette is home to one of the nation's best atmospheres.

DeVries savored his first taste of the crowd noise and in-state passion associated between Indiana and Purdue in the first meeting. He'll get a different sensation Friday night, when over 14,000 fans united in a black-out theme make life difficult for his team.

But DeVries, who's never coached against Purdue in Mackey, understands the challenge facing Indiana.

"I think there's probably a few components," DeVries said. "No. 1, just the communication aspect of play calls and that type of stuff, being able to relay that stuff. Then anytime you get some environment, having your team be able to stay composed during those stretches and stuff.

"So, that's what makes all the sports' home courts so advantageous, is having that type of environment behind you."

Crowd and color scheme in the bleachers aside, Indiana and Purdue are in different places than when they met the first time three weeks ago.

The Hoosiers' win over the Boilermakers served as a springboard for a season-changing stretch, one in which Indiana won five of six games. Purdue, meanwhile, left Bloomington with its third loss in as many games. The Boilermakers won four straight contests thereafter before losing to No. 1 Michigan, 91-80, on Tuesday.

Purdue nearly erased a 14-point deficit in the final 10 minutes in the first meeting. The Boilermakers threw a strong closing punch. Indiana survived. But DeVries knows the Hoosiers, who suffered a 71-51 loss on the road to No. 10 Illinois on Sunday, need their best 40 minutes to beat Purdue — and a boisterous crowd.

"We're going to need to play very well," DeVries said. "They've been playing incredibly well. They had a tough night with Michigan the other night. But Michigan, I think on that night, they played about as good as anybody in the country. Purdue's been playing incredibly well. Before that, they beat Iowa, they beat Nebraska, they beat Maryland.

"So, they have a really good team and they're at home and they're tough to beat. So, we're going to have to play well, we're going to have to make some shots. We're going to have to do a lot of things you're going to need to do to win a tough road game."

Rebounding has been a specific focal point for DeVries and the Hoosiers, who lost the battle of the boards, 38-25, at Illinois. Indiana struggled with the Fighting Illini's size, and Purdue, which starts two players 6-foot-9 or taller, poses a similar issue. The Hoosiers, DeVries said, need to do a better job on the glass Friday night.

Indiana only narrowly lost the rebounding margin in the first meeting, as Purdue pulled down 33 boards to the Hoosiers' 28. DeVries said rebounding and limiting turnovers are critical factors for Indiana to give itself a chance at pulling an upset in West Lafayette.

Those two core principles have followed the Hoosiers through each of their first 26 games this season. But on Friday, they'll do something they haven't yet this year: Face a team for the second time.

Indiana played Serbian professional team Mega Superbet twice in August as part of its three-game Puerto Rico exhibition series, and the Hoosiers erased 20-point deficits to win both matchups. But this isn't an exhibition. And this time, with competition higher, lights brighter and stakes far more significant, the stage is much different.

For DeVries, playing the same opponent twice comes with a natural mental game of tug-of-war.

"Whether you won or lost, it's like, 'When you won, do you try to do the same stuff? And how much, because they're preparing for that, do you change?' And then vice versa," DeVries said. "So, you got to be able to do different stuff and have different wrinkles for sure.

"But it still comes down to a lot of things — like the X's and O's are what they are, and you're going tweak some things to try to find some advantages. But all those other things still matter."

Indiana didn't spend much time dwelling on its loss to Illinois. The emotions associated with a 20-point defeat tend to stay on teams, especially coaches, longer than wins, DeVries said. Still, the Hoosiers focused on the roots beneath their loss, working to understand how, and why, it happened. DeVries and his staff watched the game multiple times over.

But with the Big Ten calendar unrelenting, Indiana set its sights on Purdue and placed an additional focus on refining the basics, the details, of what it's doing at both ends of the floor.

DeVries feels the Hoosiers have made significant progress over the past month. Since capping a four-game losing streak with an 86-72 loss to Michigan on Jan. 20, Indiana has won five of its past seven games and appears well-positioned to make the NCAA Tournament.

The Hoosiers' first win over Purdue helped put March Madness possibilities back on the table. Another on Friday would all but seal a trip to the Big Dance in DeVries' first season.

But Indiana, ever focused on a game-to-game basis, cares only about righting the wrongs from its loss to Illinois and slaying another dragon — winning its first road game against a ranked team this season — in West Lafayette.

"You just have to keep winning games," DeVries said about Indiana's NCAA Tournament hopes. "I mean, that's No. 1. The only thing we're really concerned about is our next one, and right now that's Purdue. And you start to look past that, that's when you start to get yourself in trouble.

"And our focus will just be every night on who's next and what we have to do to try to win that one."