Three things to know about the Indiana Hoosiers before Saturday's game

The Indiana Hoosiers are a program looking to make it back to relevancy under new head coach Darian DeVries. In recent years, it hasn't been up to the standard for the Hoosiers, a state that lives and dies with basketball. They haven't seen a Sweet 16 since Tom Crean's last year in 2015-16, but even he couldn't do much aside from making it to three Sweet 16 appearances in his nine years at Indiana, and before that, it wasn't much better, either.

Mike Davis got them to one Elite 8 in his time, but ultimately, it has been a bunch of failed experiments since Bob Night left in 2000, but even he ended on a downward slope, with his last NCAA Tournament result that wasn't a first or second-round exit coming in 1993-94, when his Hoosiers reached the Sweet 16. Knight is responsible for three National titles and six Final Fours. Now, DeVries is looking to take the program back to that standard has had yet to be met since.

Kentucky's historic rivalry with border state Indiana goes way back, but the two haven't met since 2015-16, where the Tom Crean version of the Hoosiers defeated the Wildcats in the Sweet 16. Before that, Kentucky took them down in the Sweet 16 on their way to a National title. Legend has it the Hoosiers still celebrate their game-winning shot against Kentucky in the regular season that year to this day. But, we're here to talk about the current Indiana squad under new head coach Darian DeVries. Let's take a look at three things you should know before the Kentucky-Indiana rivalry returns to Rupp Arena on Saturday night.

The “big three” for the Hoosiers run the show

Lamar Wilkerson, Tayton Conerway — Indiana's Lamar Wilkerson (3) and Tayton Conerway (6) share a laugh after Wilkerson checked out for the final time during the Indiana versus Penn State men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It starts with their electric backcourt with someone who should be familiar to Kentucky fans, Lamar Wilkerson, who Mark Pope recruited this off-season and looked to be in the drivers seat before flipping to Indiana last-minute. The first thing you should know is Wilkerson is coming off a historic performance against Penn State. Wilkerson set an Indiana program record for made threes in the game, as he drained 10 threes on 44 points on the way to leading the Hoosiers to a 113-72 win over Penn State in Assembly Hall. So, yeah, Kentucky has to have him priority number one on the scouting report. He's an electric scorer who can really shoot it, as you can see, and while fellow backcourt mate Tayton Conerway is also a shooter, shooting it at 40 percent, he also plays a key role in why they're such a terrific facilitating team. Conerway averages 4.7 assists, but those numbers are evenly spread between the team.

Then, there's Tucker DeVries, who is a versatile forward who can play the three and four that averages 17.2 points per game as the team's second leading scorer behind Wilkerson. Oh, and he shoots it at 40 percent from three, so there are plenty of shooting threats, and these three really do run the show, especially in that department.

A VERY unselfish team that takes care of the ball

Indiana's Tayton Conerway (6)) shoots during the Indiana versus Penn State men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As we mentioned above, the Hoosiers are an excellent team at sharing the ball with each other, and that's exactly right. Indiana is ranked as the sixth-best team in the country in the assists per game. Not only that, but they're also great at taking care of the ball despite passing it around at a high rate, as they rank third in assist-to-turnover ratio, one of the best in the country in creating offense at an efficient pace. They share the ball so well and so often that they're eighth nationally in made shots coming off of assists. To put it in perspective, 68 percent of their made field goals come from assists. Aggressive defense will be key, but Kentucky fans have a right to question their team's ability with how the effort has been lately against power four teams.

Rebounding has been a weakness for the Hoosiers

Indiana Hoosiers forward Tucker DeVries (12) reacts to a call from the referee during a game against the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Louisville defeated Indiana 87-78. | Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As efficient as they are on offense, their defense has also been on point, although it's worth noting they haven't been tested as much so far this season, with a losses to Louisville and on the road at Minnesota. They did follow that up with a dominate win over Penn State, but overall, competition aside, they really have struggled on the boards, and that is one area that DeVries has for his team to improve in moving forward. The Hoosiers rank 83rd in the country in defensive rebounds, but they're one of the worst in D1 in offensive rebounds, ranking 333rd on that end crashing the glass. That's one area Kentucky can really take advantage, but ultimately, it comes down to how their effort is.

Overall, the Hoosiers are 35th in three-point percentage, which is not higher to do just how many threes they put up each game, but they're also dangerous scoring down low, as Cornerway, Reed Bailey, and DeVries are all known threats getting in the paint, with that making DeVries so versatile since he has a terrific ability to also knock down threes. Indiana is ranked with the 13th-highest two-point percentage offense, as well as being the 7th-best two-point defense in college basketball. For Kentucky, they're a top two-point offense, so either something has to give there, like Kentucky's paint success against North Carolina, or they'll have to knock down shots. Rebounding and aggressive defense have to be top-priority, though, when it's all said and done.

Even though both teams are currently unranked, there's still going to be plenty of nostalgia in Rupp Arena on Saturday, with the two old-school rivals facing off for the first time in nearly a decade, and the first time in Rupp Arena in 15 years. Kentucky needs this one bad, as they have failed to get a quality non-conference win after dropping their first four. Will the messages Mark Pope sent to his players on Tuesday translate to better effort against a quality opponent? They need it to, or it's going to be all-out panic from Big Blue Nation.