3 takeaways from Indiana’s 73-64 upset loss to Minnesota

Indiana suffered its first loss of the Darian DeVries era and handed Niko Medved his first Big Ten win as the Hoosiers fell to the Gophers 73-64 on the road. And boy, was it a stinker.

Coming off three losses to mid-majors, Minnesota simply looked hungrier than Indiana from the start of the game, ending the first half on a run that erased the eight-point lead Indiana had with under five to play.

With their own struggles at the free throw line and with turnovers, the Hoosiers had chances to come back throughout the second half. Tonight wasn’t the night for Indiana to make it’s first gutsy performance of the season though. Instead, it was the first loss of the year.

Here are 3 Takeaways from the game:

Size

Indiana’s lack of size inside wasn’t exactly a secret heading into the season, but between the lack of true competition and the ease with which Indiana had scored before tonight, it wasn’t an issue before tonight. Tonight, Indiana’s lack of size was a real issue.

The most obvious example would be rebounding. The Gophers out-rebounded the Hoosiers 40-25, something that simply cannot keep happening if Indiana wants to continue looking like a top-25 team in the country.

The other problem for Indiana is how easily Minnesota was able to get Reed Bailey off his game. He went 1-5 from the field, and the lack of confidence led to some costly missed free throws in the second half. He led Indiana with four rebounds, but that is not enough from a starting center in a Big Ten game.

Sam Alexis had a solid game inside, but missed some crucial rebounds in the second half and went 0-2 at the charity stripe. We’ve seen the two of them play better than they did tonight, and they will need to return to that form for Indiana to finish the season on a higher note.

Coaching

It’s one game, but it was pretty clear that Medved out-coached DeVries tonight. He was able to bottle up Tucker like nobody else so far this season, keeping him off the glass and limiting his assists on top holding him to nine points.

The bigger issue tonight was DeVries’ inability to make adjustments or prepare his team for their first true road game of the year.

It’s understandable for a team to struggle away from home, especially one with no returning players and a bunch of guys who have never played together. Minnesota isn’t the hardest place to start your road schedule though, and Indiana failed what could have been an easier introduction to Big Ten play.

Aside from the inability to generate first half looks for Lamar Wilkerson, DeVries could not get his group to consistently do what they do best to win games – move the ball and move without the ball. Wilkerson appeared to be the only cutter in the second half, and as the shortest player on the court, had multiple shots blocked at the rim.

For all of Bailey’s struggles, Alexis was 5/7 on the night, which included a flatfooted 3-pointer. He was bigger and stronger than Minnesota’s bigs, and only ended up with two more field goal attempts than Bailey, who looked completely out of his depth tonight. Bailey also played more minutes, despite having more fouls and fewer assists.

Overall, this was a confusing entry in what had been a promising start to the season for Indiana.

One game

At the end of the day, it’s one game. There’s no reason to make judgements about the team or the coaching staff for one game out of eight. It’s just not worth the energy.

There are genuine concerns, like rebounding due to roster construction, that will continue to be a concern until proven otherwise. That doesn’t mean there’s reason to panic about everything.

Tucker DeVries will have better games, and this staff has plenty of big opportunities before Big Ten play hits full swing to show that it’s capable of making adjustments and concealing its weaknesses against high-quality opponents.

We’ve all seen Indiana lose bad games at Minnesota before, so there will be temptations to compare this team to Hoosiers past. That’s why it’s important to remember how new this group is. There is no carryover in coaching staff, roster, or bad vibes.

It’s a bad loss, but that’s all it is. For now.