3 Instant Takeaways from Indiana Basketball's 73-53 Win vs Lindenwood

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Darian DeVries rose from his crouch and clapped his hands, a motion several fans followed in a sparsely populated Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Indiana men's basketball's second-year coach tried to give his team energy. Then, he watched as freshman forward Trent Sisley's layup rolled off the rim and into the hands of Lindenwood University redshirt senior center Milos Nenadic.

Eight seconds later on the other end of the floor, Nenadic threw down a two-handed dunk, trimming the Hoosiers' lead to 34-28 with less than 17 minutes remaining in the second half. DeVries, with a blank stare, pulled his right hand to his right shoulder and called timeout.

Indiana, which entered Wednesday night's game as 34.5-point favorites, suddenly found itself in a rock fight with Lindenwood, which started the second half on a 10-0 run.

The Hoosiers (5-0) responded with a 21-6 run and never looked back, taking a 73-53 win over Lindenwood (2-4) on Wednesday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Here are three takeaways from Indiana's win over Lindenwood.

Offense starts slow, hits better stride in second half

With just over 11-and-a-half minutes remaining in the first half, Indiana held a 12-4 lead, but it was only 5-for-14 shooting and 2 of 6 from beyond the arc. The Hoosiers finished the opening frame with a 37.5% shooting clip while going 5 of 16 on 3-pointers.

Indiana found better form in the second half, but only marginally, shooting 37.9% from the field and going 4 of 12 from distance behind a strong outing from Tucker DeVries. The fifth-year senior forward scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half, during which he made 5 of 8 attempts, including 3 of 4 from long range.

DeVries was joined in double figures by sixth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson, who scored 10 points on 4-for-16 shooting and went only 1 of 7 from distance.

Rebounding remains a concern

Lindenwood outrebounded Indiana, 28-25, in the first half, and the Lions pulled down 13 offensive rebounds while the Hoosiers grabbed 19 defensive rebounds.

Indiana rebounded better in the second half but still lost the margin. The Hoosiers notched 18 boards to Lindenwood's 20, and the Lions collected six offensive rebounds.

Darian DeVries has been transparent about the Hoosiers' lack of size, and rebounding figures to be a battle for Indiana this season. However, it was fair to believe those issues could've been mitigated until conference play. Thus far, they haven't.

Sam Alexis gives Hoosiers energy boost off the bench

After Indiana's 69-61 win over Incarnate Word on Nov. 16, Tucker DeVries said the Hoosiers likely wouldn't have won without senior forward Sam Alexis, who had 16 points and eight rebounds.

The sentiment may have held true again Thursday. Alexis scored eight points and notched 10 rebounds, and he played with an energy that sparked the Hoosiers' second-half push. He led Indiana in rebounding, blocked three shots and went 4-for-4 shooting at the free throw line.

Indiana continues to start senior forward Reed Bailey over Alexis, but Alexis has been the better of the two big men through the season's first five games.