The Indiana Hoosiers find themselves very much alive in the March Madness race after blowing out Minnesota.
Darian DeVries and the Indiana Hoosiers' men's basketball team badly needed a convincing win on Wednesday night as they try to make the NCAA Tournament.
With March Madness right around the corner, the Hoosiers were able to come through with exactly the statement win they wanted. Indiana ended up dominating the Minnesota Golden Gophers by a final score of 77-47.
Right off the bat, it was clear that the Hoosiers were going to control the night.
At the 12:02 mark in the first half, Indiana already had a 20-6 lead. DeVries and company came to prove a point and they were able to do just that.
Sam Alexis led the way for the Hoosiers, scoring 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting to go along with nine rebounds and two blocks. Lamar Wilkerson scored 16 points and knocked down four of his seven three-point attempts.
Following the game, DeVries spoke out about his team's big win.
"No, like we talked about, it was just the next game for us. Obviously had an importance with senior night and had family and things, but our whole is just keep preparing and put yourself in the best position possible to go out and play well. They did it again and we were able to, like I said, complete that full 40 minutes tonight. So that was good," he said.
"Also, I thought offensively they moved it, shared it, really got in some good spots. Got some good looks from the perimeter."
Coming off of a rough stretch, DeVries was asked about how important a blowout win over the Golden Gophers was for Indiana.
"Yeah, and hopefully it's something that just propels you, you know? To that next game and next hopefully group of games. When you lose four games in a row, it does put things in a little different perspective, the importance of this game, right?"
He credited the veteran team leaders for being able to keep the team focused on getting back on track.
"And like you said, I thought they fought their tails off against Michigan State, just came up a little bit short. They continued to stay focus, continued to put in the work like they have all year and their approach has been terrific. I think a lot of that is those seniors making sure that they stay focused on what's next and not looking in the rear view for very long."
Next up for the Hoosiers will be a matchup on the road against the Ohio State Buckeyes at 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. A win would give Indiana a very good chance of punching a ticket into the NCAA Tournament.
On the other hand, a loss could knock them out of tournament contention.