Conor Enright played 40 minutes, shut down Purdue point guard Braden Smith and his a huge three-pointer in the final minute, helping Indiana upset the No. 12 Boilermakers before a raucous crowd at Assembly Hall. It was their first Quad-1 win of the season.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — For a few minutes on Tuesday, Indiana was pounding its chest as a football school. Before tipoff, Curt Cignetti and his players trotted out to center court at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall with the national championship trophy, and an adoring crowd roared in approval.
The rest of the night? For two hours — and for the first time since Darian DeVries and his all-new roster or players arrived in town — they got to see why Indiana is still very much a basketball school, too.
Every seat was full at Assembly Hall, not that anyone needed them. They stood for every minute of the Hoosiers' 72-67 upset of archrival Purdue, and the decibel level was off the charts. And in the end, Indiana had its first Quad-1 win of the season and a true Indiana basketball experience.
"To start off, I'm going to say the biggest key (to the victory) was that crowd out there. I mean, that was awesome. I mean, that's what makes this place so special,'' DeVries told reporters after the win. "When they're making their run, our crowd kept willing us to keep fighting in every possession. So I want to thank this crowd for their efforts tonight, because that's a huge deal in college basketball.
"When you've got a home court like we have, that's a big advantage. And when that place is loud and rocking like that, that's a big, big deal for us. So, thanks to everyone that came out and brought the noise themselves. That's what this place is. We love our hoops. We want this to be the loudest, toughest place there is, not only in the Big Ten but in the country, because it does matter. It does make a difference in games, and that effort by the crowd tonight was impressive.''
Indiana (14-7, 5-5 in the Big Ten) got the crowd into a frenzy in the final seven minutes of the first half, going on a 21-6 run to turn a four-point deficit into an 11-point lead (40-9) at the break. The Hoosiers made eight first-half threes and were really locked in defensively while harassing Purdue's All-American point guard, Braden Smith. Indiana's Conor Enright made life tough for him.
Smith didn't have a single first-half assist and the Hoosiers never let him turn to the corner, hedging on each screen and disrupting Purdue's offensive flow. They shot just 45 percent in the first half, and were just 3-for-10 from deep.
Indiana's lead grew to 14 in the second half, and was still there at the 9:54 mark. Purdue made a run, but the Hoosiers answered and still had a double-digit lead with 5:24 to go.
But then it got dicey. Purdue kept scoring, and Indiana went more than two minutes without even attempting a field goal. They missed the front end of three one-and-ones and had a turnover, and Purdue suddenly was within two with 1:28 to go.
But on Indiana's next possession, the ball swung to the left side and Enright, who had just one basket all night before then, caught a pass and didn't hesitate. He knocked down a three-pointer to make it 68-63 and the Hoosiers hit their last four free throws to close it out.
It was the third straight loss for Purdue (17-4, 7-3), and the fourth time in five years that they lost in Bloomington.
"No, honestly I make them more when I think less,'' Enright said of his game-clinching shot. "I get open (looks) so I just let that one fly. Yeah, it's up there for sure (as one of the biggest shots of his career). It's just about the guys having confidence in me and shooting every day with some of my coaches and, yeah, just being ready when my number is called.''
Lamar Wilkerson led the Hoosiers with 19 points and Nick Dorn, who got his second straight start and third consecutive game with big minutes, added 18. He hit four threes and is averaging 18.3 points per game since Jan. 20. Tucker DeVries and Reed Bailey had nine, and Enright, who played all 40 minutes, finished with eight points and a job well done on Smith, who finished with 14 points and five assists, but four turnovers.
"It feels awesome now. I'm tired, but, you know, it was great (to beat Purdue),'' Enright said. "I think we've changed our mindset these last couple weeks in practice, and I think it shows on the court just how we are as a team. And I think it's good for a second half of Big Ten play for a brand new team.
"Purdue is a great team. Obviously, they're ranked in the top 12 or whatever they are. So we knew we weren't going to blow a team like that out. But like Nick said, kind of weathering the storm, staying together. And I think we did that. We did a good job of doing that and then we made shots down in the end and got the W.''
Indiana had been 0-6 in Quad-1 games, so this win was a huge resume-builder. They're back to .500 in the Big Ten now ahead of a West Coast trip to USC and UCLA this weekend. They are back home on Feb. 7 against Wisconsin.
"From a team standpoint, I just thought collectively there were a lot of guys that brought fight in a lot of different ways,'' DeVries said. "It's a tough matchup, and hey're really big inside. They create some problems there.
"I thought Conor Enright, 40 minutes of chasing Smith around, that's not an easy deal, because that's if not the best guard in the country right there, and he creates a lot of their stuff for them. I thought he gave incredible effort the whole night — cramping and everything — and he continued to fight through it. He made a big three late and made two free throws.''
Despite only being in Bloomington for a few months, DeVries understood the value of a win over Purdue, one of the best rivalries in the country. He's now 1-0 against Matt Painter and the Boilers, and he appreciated how the crowd helped get them over the hump.
"I mean, this is what I want it to be like. This is us. This is our program,'' DeVries said. "And it's our community, it's our students, and I want them to feel their impact matters because it does.
"And I want them to know — and I've said it in the summertime, when we were very intentional and tried to get out and meet students and have them get to know us. We want them to feel like they're a huge part of it and have an impact on what happens out there, because they do. They brought it today. So that was just a thank you.''