Lamar Wilkerson Was in His Head. Then, He Made Indiana Basketball History vs Penn State

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — With a white Gatorade towel draped around his neck, Lamar Wilkerson smiled, turned his head toward the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall video board and raised his right arm to thank the fans who'd risen to their feet.

Wilkerson acknowledged them. Fans acknowledged history.

It was the most feel-good moment of a night full of them — be it eclipsing the 100-point mark with five-and-a-half minutes remaining, freshman guard Aleksa Ristic scoring his first college points or reigniting belief in a season, and offense, that endured its darkest stretch last week.

But Wilkerson earned his spotlight, his curtain call and his spot on center stage. The sixth-year senior guard also earned his spot in the Hoosiers' history book.

Wilkerson scored 44 points on 16-for-22 shooting, including 10 of 15 from beyond the arc, while guiding the Hoosiers (8-2, 1-1 Big Ten) to a dominant 113-72 win over Penn State (8-2, 0-1 Big Ten) on Tuesday night.

The Ashdown, Ark., native's 44 points set a career high and broke the Assembly Hall scoring record, which Trayce Jackson-Davis set at 43-points in November 2021, and his 10 triples set a program record.

"All credit to my team and the coaches," Wilkerson said postgame. "Coach (DeVries) told me today was going to be the day that I got hot because I've been having a rough couple games. He fed me the ball. I seen one, two, three go in, then after that, they just like find the hot hand.

"They kept feeding me. The shots kept going in."

The floodgates opened one minute into the game, when Wilkerson hit his first 3-pointer. He made two more within the next minute-and-a-half. Wilkerson scored Indiana's first 9 points, and on the possession after his third 3-pointer, he assisted senior guard Tayton Conerway's left wing triple.

Midway through the first half, Wilkerson alone went on an 11-2 run, extending Indiana's lead to 32-14. He'd already scored 20 points, a mark Penn State didn't collectively reach until just over two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the opening half.

Wilkerson made each of his first five 3-pointers to open the second half, and he broke his previous career-high of 32 points on a triple five-and-a-half minutes into the period. As he jogged down the court, he appeared to make eye contact with Penn State coach Mike Rhoades, and Wilkerson smiled.

Later, Wilkerson pushed the Hoosiers to the 100-point mark with a left-wing triple inside of six minutes remaining. The 6-foot-6, 205-pound Wilkerson knocked down two free throws with four-and-a-half minutes left to reach 44 points, and he walked off the floor to a boisterous applause from the Hoosier faithful.

Wilkerson entered Tuesday in the midst of a slump. He went only 5-of-23 shooting from beyond the arc during Indiana's previous three games, far below the standard for one of college basketball's premier marksmen.

The struggles wore on Wilkerson, but he broke free Tuesday night.

"I was in my head about it a couple days," Wilkerson said. "Even in practice, my coaches came up, my teammates came up, 'Just keep shooting the ball.' Shooters shoot. Shoot the ball, everything is going to work out. It's a numbers game."

During their earlier Tuesday conversation, DeVries told Wilkerson to relax, shoot, have fun and let the ball fly. DeVries also mentioned he felt Wilkerson would get hot that night — something DeVries joked he tells Wilkerson all the time.

And even amid Wilkerson's slump, DeVries never lost confidence.

"He's had a couple nights where he's struggled," DeVries said. "I was never worried about that. He's that level of a shooter. He's not going to (score) 44 every night, (but) he has that confidence. He puts in the work every day. It was fun to see him get loose and showcase all that work he puts in."

It never crossed Wilkerson's mind during the game whether he could have a night as special as Tuesday, but the more shots fell, the wider the hoop grew. It looked as "big as the ocean today," he said, smiling, postgame.

DeVries saw similar things from his stance at the front of the Hoosiers' bench, and he feels Wilkerson's breakthrough Tuesday can be a launching pad for his confidence.

"I think it's great for him," DeVries said. "I think even for really good shooters, sometimes if you overthink it, you can start to pressure a little bit in your own mind. When he gets one or two down, you can just see it was a relief for him tonight. Then after that, it was just fun."

Senior forward Reed Bailey used a different adjective: Amazing, but not surprising. Bailey, who came off the bench for the first time this season and scored 18 points on a flawless 6-for-6 shooting from the field, said he's filled with trust and belief in Wilkerson to knock down shots.

On Tuesday night, Wilkerson validated Bailey's faith.

"It's pretty cool," Bailey said postgame. "We all knew he could do it. We're all here. When he gets hot, we're just trying to help him get some open shots. When it starts falling like that, it's hard to come by open looks, but he works his butt off. We all saw it coming."

Scoring aside, DeVries noted Wilkerson is an important piece to Indiana's offense because he draws considerable defensive attention. He also proved he's more than a shooter Tuesday night, as he had several quality finishes at the rim to go along with four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Wilkerson's all-around surge drove Indiana to a 113-point performance, its most against a Big Ten opponent since a 118-71 win over Iowa on Feb. 17, 1990.

The Hoosiers dished 30 assists, tied for the most against any Division I opponent in program history, and made 17 triples, their most in a game since connecting on 19 3-pointers in a win over Illinois in 2016.

DeVries didn't know about any of the records, team or personal, apart from seeing Wilkerson reach 40 points. But based on the fans' reactions, he knew Wilkerson was close to something.

"Apparently, he broke a lot of 'em," DeVries said, smiling. "So, good for him."

Moments after the final whistle, Wilkerson joined his teammates for their traditional post-game walk around the courtside seats, high fiving the fans who'd occupied the crimson chairs for the previous two hours.

Then, Indiana public address announcer Jeremy Gray's voice bellowed over the speakers, reading off Wilkerson's illustrious stat line and achievements from Tuesday night.

"One of the great all-time single-game performances," Gray said, "in Indiana basketball history."

Wilkerson kept walking and high-fiving fans. Much like his on-court performance Tuesday, when no defense, no shot contest, could slow him down, not even the acknowledgement of his accomplishments forced him to break stride.

And he didn't stop until he reached the locker room, with his name forever etched into the Hoosiers' candy striped record books.