Why Indiana Basketball Wants Lamar Wilkerson to 'Keep Shooting' Amid 2-Game Slump

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — As he slowly backpedaled to the other end of Branch McCracken Court, Lamar Wilkerson's head tilted back and his eyes shifted up, as if he was looking toward the heaven and saying, "finally."

Indiana men's basketball's sixth-year senior guard is expected to be one of the nation's best 3-point shooters. He ranked as such last season, as he was one of three Division I players to make over 100 triples while shooting better than 44%, and he started this season 15-for-26 shooting from beyond the arc.

But Wilkerson missed his first six 3-pointers against Lindenwood University on Nov. 20, and he was 3-of-15 shooting before rattling home a straightaway triple with seven-and-a-half minutes remaining in the Hoosiers' 73-53 win at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Wilkerson finished 4-for-16 shooting from the field and 1-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc vs. Lindenwood, a performance that followed a quiet, foul-impacted night against Incarnate Word on Nov. 16, during which he went 2-for-6 shooting and 0 of 3 from distance.

After a torrid start, Wilkerson has hit a brief two-game shooting slump — but Indiana coach Darian DeVries has expressed unwavering confidence in his 24-year-old star.

"If he was 4 for 17 that means there is an 11 for 17 coming soon," DeVries said after defeating Lindenwood. "He can let them rip whenever he wants. Like we always tell our guys, basketball is basketball. The best players in the world have off nights. He had an off-shooting night. That means we got a good one coming.

"It's always about, 'Let's make sure we got the win even on those nights.' So, he's going to have plenty of good nights, too."

The 6-foot-6, 205-pound Wilkerson didn't have back-to-back games below a 30% shooting clip from 3-point range last season at Sam Houston State University. The last time he endured such a scenario was Feb. 15 and Feb. 17, 2024, when he went 2 of 7 and 0 for 1, respectively. He followed by making 7 of 8 triples in a 21-point win.

During the offseason, DeVries called Wilkerson one of the best shooters he's coached in 28 years. A long-range sniper of Wilkerson's caliber needs to not shy away amid a brief rut, DeVries said.

The shots will, eventually, fall — so long as Wilkerson's confidence remains unshakeable.

"Keep shooting, that's it. Just keep letting it rip," DeVries said of how to get Wilkerson out of the slump. "I'm not worried about that at all. He had a tough shooting night. You're going to have those once in a while. But he's more likely to go 10 for 17 the next night than continue on that pace.

"The percentages always work themselves out. That's just what they are. Good shooters are good shooters. They don't just forget how to shoot. He's going to keep letting them go. We're going to keep telling him to let them go. We're going to run all the stuff that we always run for him."

DeVries was a potent shooter during his four-year, 108-game playing career at the University of Northern Iowa. He shot 40.8% from distance on 3.8 attempts per game during his career, and as a senior in 1997-98, he connected on 43.9% of his triples, the best mark in the Missouri Valley Conference.

His philosophy on how to handle shooting slumps stems, in large part, from his playing days.

"I think all guys that play the game, they're shooters, you just know that's how you have to be," DeVries said. "I think that's true in a lot of sports. Baseball, the greatest hitters in the world get out 70 percent of the time. You're going to miss in basketball. That's okay. Just keep staying confident, keep trusting your work."

Indiana (5-0) enters an important early-season non-conference test against Kansas State (5-1) at 8 p.m. Tuesday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The Hoosiers' offense largely mirrored Wilkerson through five games, twice racing past 100 points while averaging 99.7 points in the first three contests before struggling in a pair of inefficient, hard-fought wins.

Kansas State boasts one of the nation's best offenses, and the Wildcats' 43.3% clip from distance ranks ninth nationally. Tuesday figures to be a high-scoring affair, one in which Indiana needs Wilkerson to rediscover his touch from long range.

DeVries has no doubt he will — and don't expect the Hoosiers to shy away from designing quality looks for Wilkerson, no matter his struggles the past two games.

"It's just giving your guys the utmost confidence in them and just encourage them to keep doing what they do," DeVries said. "I don't care if you missed six in a row. We can't draw a play to get you that open of a shot. So, if that seventh one presents itself, shoot it again. That's the way you have to approach it."