Indiana Basketball Needed Tucker DeVries to Break His Slump. He Did at Rutgers.

Tucker DeVries walked back to Indiana basketball's huddle, fists clenched, arms pumping up and down, moments removed from burying a 3-pointer. DeVries' face bore a stoic appearance, underlining an internal belief that this night, this performance these results, are merely the expectation.

But his teammates' reactions — energetic hand claps from junior guard Jasai Miles, several excited jumps from senior guard Conor Enright and a bench seeking him out for high-fives — told a more telling story: Indiana's senior forward had officially broken his frustrating, long-standing slump.

DeVries had 16 points at halftime and 22 overall as the Hoosiers (13-7, 4-5 Big Ten) raced to an 82-59 victory over Rutgers (9-11, 2-7 Big Ten) on Friday night at Jersey Mike's Arena in Pascataway, New Jersey.

The Waukee, Iowa, native went 9-for-20 shooting from the field and notched 10 rebounds, giving him his third double-double this season, to go along with six assists, no fouls and only one turnover in 37 minutes.

DeVries joined senior guard Lamar Wilkerson, who led the team with 27 points, and junior guard Nick Dorn, who scored 23 points in his first start at Indiana, to carry the Hoosiers' scoring load Friday night. The trio combined for 72 of Indiana's 82 points in a win that snapped a three-game losing streak.

"I think the guys do such a good job of trying to find those guys," Indiana coach Darian DeVries said postgame. "They know when Tucker hits one or Lamar hits one or Nick hits one, to try to keep them hot and keep them in action. They did that throughout the game, and there's different stretches for each guy a little bit.

"I thought all those guys made some big plays. They're very confident and aggressive, and I like that mentality out of them."

Through his first seven-and-a-half Big Ten games, dating to halftime of Indiana's 86-72 loss at Michigan on Tuesday night, Tucker DeVries was only 24-for-71 shooting from the field and 12 of 49 from beyond the arc — clips of 33.8% and 24.5%, respectively.

But in the second half against Michigan, DeVries showed signs of life. He scored 15 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the floor and 4 of 7 from 3-point range.

Afterwards, Darian DeVries said Tucker DeVries shot the ball well in practice amidst his struggles, and Darian hoped Tucker's performance in Ann Arbor would take weight off his shoulders moving forward. If Friday night is any indication, it certainly did.

Tucker DeVries acknowledged his second half at Michigan helped his confidence entering Jersey Mike's Arena.

"If there's one thing I could take away from that, it definitely felt good going to the next stage to keep that confidence from the end of it," DeVries said postgame.

DeVries, who entered Friday as college basketball's second-leading scorer among all active players, notched the Hoosiers' first basket of the night on a 3-pointer just over 40 seconds after the tip-off.

DeVries has done that before. He scored Indiana's opening points with a triple in the first minute at Maryland on Jan. 7 and at Michigan State on Jan. 13. But in both games, he struggled thereafter — he recorded just 5 points against the Terrapins and 9 points against the Spartans.

Friday night, however, was different. DeVries already shed the slump-related shackles in Ann Arbor. He was back to his usual self — the player who won a pair of Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year awards at Drake, who shot 47.3% from 3-point range before a season-ending injury last year at West Virginia and who earned a spot on the Wooden Award top 25 midseason watch list.

DeVries made an off-balanced, highly contested 3-pointer a few steps away from the left corner with just under four minutes into the game. It was the launching pad for his first game with over 20 points since a Dec. 6 loss to Louisville in Indianapolis.

"I mean, it felt good to finally get it going a little bit," DeVries said postgame. "The shots felt a lot better. I've been shooting a lot better in practice last month or so, just haven't quite had that in the games yet."

Until Friday night.

The 6-foot-7, 225-pound DeVries made five shots inside the arc, his most this season. He hit difficult fadeaways and short floaters, using his height and high-level shot-making to finish plays and find the bottom of the basket on a night where he went 4 of 12 from beyond the arc.

In lockstep with DeVries, Indiana's offense flourished Friday night. The Hoosiers shot 50% from the field and were 15-for-35 shooting from 3-point range. Darian DeVries noted Indiana was crisper in its actions, better in its movement and sound in its ball security, as the Hoosiers dished 15 assists and had only five turnovers.

"To be honest, I thought we had great offense," Tucker DeVries said. "I thought we moved it, we shared it, we played well together, we screened for each other. When each guy kind of had it going, I thought our guards and the whole team really you know did a good job of getting that guy open.

"At the beginning of the game, it happened to be me, then Nick hit quite a few. He got some good open looks and 'Mar got it going again in the second half. When we're playing well, that's what it looks like for us, and we need to continue to do that going forward."

Indiana desperately needed a win Friday night. The Hoosiers lost four straight games — three to top 10 teams and the other to Iowa, which appears headed to the NCAA Tournament — and entered Jersey Mike's Arena looking to right the ship.

Aided by DeVries, Dorn and Wilkerson, Indiana did exactly that.

But perhaps more importantly, the Hoosiers saw DeVries play at the level necessary for them to become the team they aspire to be — and he'll need to do it again at 9 p.m. Tuesday, when Indiana faces archrival and No. 4-ranked Purdue inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.

"It feels good to get back in the right column," Tucker DeVries said. "But we know this league's tough. Every game is going to be a grind you and you look forward to the next game and you got another tough one that's coming up. So, we'll enjoy it, but we got a lot of work to do going forward to get to where we need to be."