3 Instant Takeaways from Indiana Basketball's 87-78 Loss to Louisville

INDIANAPOLIS — Darian DeVries emphatically swung his left arm and walked onto the floor to high-five his players while fans inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse rose to their feet and showered DeVries' Indiana men's basketball team with applause.

The Hoosiers trimmed their second-half deficit to 52-44 with 13-and-a-half minutes remaining, and Louisville coach Pat Kelsey, whose team led by 17 points earlier in the half, had seen enough.

Then, Kelsey watched as his team used a 13-4 run before his counterpart, DeVries, called timeout just over four minutes later. Indiana's deficit ballooned to 17 points, and the energy once alive and well in Gainbridge Fieldhouse had largely dissipated.

No. 22 Indiana (7-2) drew within 7 points in the final minute before ultimately falling 87-78 to No. 6 Louisville (8-1) on Saturday afternoon at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Here are three takeaways from Indiana's second consecutive loss.

Slow start buries Indiana

There was palpable energy during pre-game tunnel-runs and player introductions at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, much of it Hoosier-centric. Indiana fans booed Louisville's entrance to the court and delivered boisterous cheers when the Hoosiers took the floor. The crowd, heavily geared toward the Cream and Crimson, was electric.

Then, Louisville shut it down.

The Cardinals started the game on a 16-0 run. Indiana missed its first eight field goals, and at the under-16 timeout, the Hoosiers had more turnovers (four) than shots that hit the rim (two). The Hoosiers didn't score until senior forward Sam Alexis' alley-oop dunk with 13:28 remaining in the first half.

Indiana went on a 14-3 run, trimming Louisville's lead to 19-14 with nine minutes left, but the Cardinals extended their lead to 41-27.

Through 13 games — five exhibitions, eight regular season contests — the Hoosiers hadn't faced a team as big, strong, athletic or skilled as Louisville, and it took six minutes to adjust. But the damage had been done, and the deficit was too insurmountable.

Ryan Conwell nearly chose Indiana. Instead, he starred vs. home-state Hoosiers

Louisville senior guard Ryan Conwell was one of the highest-rated players in the transfer portal this past spring, and the Indianapolis native who played at Pike High School visited the Hoosiers during his recruiting process.

Conwell was in Bloomington on March 31, but he visited — and committed — to Louisville the next day. On Saturday, playing in his hometown against his home-state team, Conwell delivered a strong offensive performance to guide Louisville past Indiana.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Conwell scored a team-high 21 points on 4-for-10 shooting while going 10 of 11 at the foul stripe. He added four rebounds and two assists and made three triples.

Hoosiers face many questions — some with season-wide implications

Indiana entered this week riding a wave of momentum. The Hoosiers were ranked and undefeated, and they rated inside the top 50 nationally in both points scored and allowed.

Now, the rubber has met the road, and Indiana's car looks like it could use an adjustment.

The Hoosiers suffered their first defeat, a 73-64 loss to Minnesota on Dec. 3, after entering as 10.5-point favorites and leading by 8 points in the first half. They hadn't lost under DeVries prior to Wednesday night. They hadn't lost back-to-back games under DeVries prior to Saturday afternoon.

Indiana struggled offensively for much of Saturday. Senior forward Tucker DeVries led the team with 26 points on 5-for-14 shooting from the floor with 12 of his points coming at the foul stripe.

Two Hoosiers reached double figures in senior guard Lamar Wilkerson, who scored 12 points on 5-for-15 shooting, while junior guard Nick Dorn scored 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting from distance.

The Hoosiers shot 41.3% from the field and were11-for-34 shooting on 3-pointers. The Cardinals lit it up from distance, going 13-for-31 shooting, a 41.9% clip.

Indiana has two more high-major games loading on its schedule, as it hosts Penn State on Tuesday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall before facing Kentucky on Saturday at Rupp Arena in Lexington.