3 Instant Takeaways from Indiana Basketball's 78-58 Win vs Chicago State

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Standing in his usual spot a few feet in front of his team's bench, Indiana basketball coach Darian DeVries feverishly, and energetically, clapped his hands.

Not after a made shot. Not after a foul. Not even after a positive result for his team.

DeVries watched as three different Hoosiers — senior forward Tucker DeVries and senior guards Lamar Wilkerson and Conor Enright— missed 3-pointers on the same possession.

The missed shots were a first-half rarity for the Hoosiers on the most explosive 3-point shooting afternoon in program history. But Darian DeVries liked the idea and intent: Keep shooting.

But eventually, the misses stockpiled. Indiana, despite the same looks it received in the first half, failed to connect on 17 consecutive triples from late in the first half through 11-and-a-half minutes into the second half.

Still, the Hoosiers (9-3) overpowered Chicago State (2-11) with size, athleticism and skill en route to a 78-58 victory Saturday afternoon at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.

Here are three quick takeaways from Indiana's victory in its penultimate non-conference game.

Indiana sets record from beyond the arc despite strange second half

The Hoosiers entered halftime 14-for-26 shooting from 3-point range. They didn't make 14 or more triples in any of the previous seven seasons, but after Saturday, they've already reached or eclipsed 14 triples four times in DeVries' tenure.

But Indiana opened the second half not cold, but frozen, from distance. The Hoosiers missed their first 16 triples, a drought snapped by junior forward Nick Dorn at the 8:24 mark of the second half. Dating back to Tucker DeVries' missed 3-pointer in the final seconds of the first half, Indiana missed 17 straight 3-pointers.

The Hoosiers smashed the program record for 3-pointers attempted with 46. The previous mark was 39, set in a 59-50 loss to Temple on Jan. 3, 2004. Indiana finished 15-for-46 shooting from distance.

Indiana received significant contributions from Dorn, who scored 15 points and made five triples, along with Wilkerson, who tallied 21 points and also hit five 3-pointers.

Chicago State wins second half as Indiana's struggles go beyond 3-point shooting

The Hoosiers led 52-29 at halftime, but the Cougars won the second half, outscoring Indiana 29-26.

Indiana's second-half issues extended beyond 3-pointers.

The Hoosiers were 9-for-16 shooting at the free throw line and they committed seven turnovers. They shot only 26.7% from the floor to Chicago State's 34.4%.

Indiana's size advantage didn't lead to post dominance

Chicago State's tallest player is 6-foot-9 senior CJ Delancy, who played only nine minutes. Apart from Delancy and 6-foot-8 graduate student forward Stephen Byard, the rest of the Wildcats' roster is 6-foot-7 or shorter. Out of 365 Division I teams, they rank as the 360th biggest, according to KenPom.

Indiana, however, didn't try to live in the paint. The Wildcats scored 30 points in the paint to the Hoosiers' 22, a byproduct of Indiana's desire to run its normal offense and focus more on 3-point looks.

Senior forward Sam Alexis scored 2 points and made his lone field goal for Indiana, while fellow senior forward Reed Bailey came off the bench and notched 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Bailey added eight rebounds, while Alexis pulled down four boards.

Indiana outrebounded Chicago State 44-33, and the Hoosiers shot 11 of 16 from inside the arc. But they didn't merely dominate the Cougars at the rim even with their size advantage.