Indiana Basketball Sets 3-Point Attempt Record, 'Lost Confidence' in Drought vs Chicago State

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Darian DeVries had seen enough. Indiana men's basketball's first-year coach barked twice for a timeout, his voice emerging over the announcement of another Chicago State basket.

But DeVries' attempt to stop the action came to no avail. And as play carried on, so did the nightmare he tried to end.

Indiana sixth-year senior forward Tucker DeVries launched a 3-pointer from the left corner. The ball sailed over the rim, adding another tally to the Hoosiers' fast-growing list of air-ball triples, and into the waiting hands of Chicago State forward Dailliss Cox.

The shot made history. It marked Indiana's 40th 3-point attempt of Saturday's 78-58 win over Chicago State (2-11) at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington — and it also pushed the Hoosiers to 0-for-14 shooting from distance in the second half.

All told, Indiana missed 17 consecutive triples, went 1-for-20 shooting from 3-point range in the second half and smashed the program's attempt record — previously 39 — in a 15-for-46 shooting performance against the Cougars that suddenly went from torrid to terrible.

"That's just how basketball is," senior forward Reed Bailey said postgame. "You make shots some halves, make shots the other. Everybody out there is capable enough to be making those. We all believe in our guys and we're going to knock those down."

Indiana started 14-for-25 shooting from beyond the arc before Tucker DeVries missed a deep, contested, late shot clock 3-pointer with eight seconds left in the first half. The Hoosiers entered the locker room 14 of 26 overall from distance, marking the fourth time this season they've made at least 14 triples — a feat they didn't accomplish once in any of the past seven campaigns.

The program record for 3-pointers, which sits at 19, appeared firmly in jeopardy. But the Hoosiers started 0-for-16 shooting from deep in the second half and didn't make a triple until junior forward Nick Dorn connected from the right corner with less than eight-and-a-half minutes remaining.

Darian DeVries acknowledged Indiana largely had the same quality of looks in the second half as it did in the first. The Hoosiers — no matter the player, the spot or the situation — simply failed to knock them down.

"For us, it's always been, 'You got to stay confident as a shooter,'" DeVries said postgame. "Use a baseball (example). One guy hits a home run, you see two or three other ones, everybody starts hitting. Sometimes shooting can be that way, too. Guys kind of feed off one another.

"I thought that second half, you could definitely feel it build in a negative way for us. We kind of lost a little bit of our confidence. They weren't shooting it with the same swagger that they're accustomed to."

Indiana never regained its long-range swagger. After Dorn's triple, the Hoosiers attempted only five more field goals, three of which were 3-pointers. Bailey made two dunks and none of the 3-pointers fell while Indiana scored just 9 points over the final eight minutes.

Sixth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson, who paced the team with 21 points, was 5-for-8 shooting from 3-point range in the first half but 0 of 4 in the second, as was Tucker DeVries. Dorn went 4 of 7 from distance in the first half and 1 for 4 in the second.

Sixth-year senior guard Tayton Conerway, senior guard Conor Enright, junior guard Jasai Miles and freshman forward Trent Sisley each went 0-for-2 shooting from deep in the second half.

The Hoosiers tried multiple ways to get their confidence back. They kept shooting 3-pointers. They tried to get downhill and draw fouls or find favorable shots at the rim. Nothing worked.

Indiana found enough success to keep its lead above 19 points for the entire second half, but the Hoosiers failed to rediscover their 3-point stroke.

"We did a few things tonight to try to get a couple of the guys a layup or an easy opportunity," DeVries said. "A couple of them, the play just didn't work. We weren't able to get it. But overall, that's kind of the offset of, 'How do you try to get them going?' is maybe try to find them an easy one."

The Hoosiers held a considerable height advantage over Chicago State, which ranks No. 360 out of 365 Division I teams in size, according to KenPom. But the Cougars outscored Indiana, 30-22, in the paint.

DeVries said the natural inclination amid shooting slumps is to drive to the rim and generate more paint touches. The challenge, however, is Chicago State often allowed clean looks from 3-point range, and the Hoosiers fancied the opportunity.

"It's finding that balance of, I don't want them to hesitate, so you want them to stay confident," DeVries said. "It's also, after a while, if we're not making them, we have to be able to get in there. I thought the guys, late-middle second half out of the time-out, we were able to get some of those paint touches, able to get downhill. Got a couple lobs and stuff like that."

Indiana didn't enter Saturday afternoon particularly emphasizing long-range shooting, Bailey said. The Hoosiers merely ran their offense and created advantageous looks due to late rotations or missed assignments from the Cougars.

"We just take them when we're open," Bailey said. "Take them when you're open, shoot them with confidence and they're going to go in. That first half, you see what we're capable of, so it's always going to even out."

DeVries' offense is rooted in taking, and making, 3-pointers. Through its first 11 games, Indiana ranked 42nd nationally with 10.4 made triples per game and 49th with 28.4 triples attempted per contest. The Hoosiers are a 3-point shooting team, DeVries said.

But they've recently battled stretches of inconsistency. During a span of three losses in four games against high-major opponents, Indiana twice shot below 30% from beyond the arc, including a dismal 4 of 24 performance in a 72-60 loss at Kentucky on Dec. 13. In the Hoosiers' lone win, a 113-72 victory over Penn State, they were 17-for-31 shooting 3-pointers.

DeVries has often emphasized Indiana's need to be strong defensively even when shots aren't falling. He felt the Hoosiers checked that box Saturday, holding Chicago State to 29 points in each half and forcing the Cougars to shoot 36.4% from the field and 20% from distance.

The reason Chicago State never pulled within striking distance, DeVries said, is the Hoosiers didn't allow many easy shots — a lesson he hopes his team carries with it moving forward.

"On a night like that, that's what it's going to have to be," DeVries said. "I give our guys some credit there. They didn't let it completely turn into, 'Hey, we're not scoring,' lost all focus at the other end, now giving them easy shots, easy opportunities.

"They still stayed really engaged and I thought they did a pretty good job at making things as difficult as they could."

Indiana (9-3, 1-1 Big Ten) has one final non-conference game remaining — a 6 p.m. tipoff Monday vs. Siena in Assembly Hall — before starting Big Ten play.

The Hoosiers know their identity, and the length at which they embody it, rests in 3-point shooting. They'll live and die by it during DeVries' first season. In the first half Saturday, they lived lavishly. In the second, they went broke.

But Indiana has no fears about Saturday's dismal second half efficiency rearing its ugly head again, and it certainly has no plans to stop firing.

"I feel like we've seen each other make it a thousand times in practice," Dorn said postgame. "When we're not together, we know everyone's getting their work in. We just have unwavering faith in each other."