IU basketball’s three-game winning streak was snapped Tuesday night in an 81-75 loss to USC at the Galen Center.
Here are five takeaways from the loss to the Trojans:
USC’s length and athleticism overwhelmed Indiana on the glass
After three straight games of solid work on the defensive glass, Indiana struggled to keep a more athletic opponent off the boards on Tuesday night.
The Trojans grabbed 11 offensive rebounds in their win against the Hoosiers and posted an offensive rebounding percentage of 39.3. That’s the highest offensive rebounding percentage the Hoosiers have allowed since a loss at Michigan State on January 13.
USC also made Indiana pay for its poor work on the defensive boards, turning those 11 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points.
The Trojans won the second-chance points battle 15-6, a significant margin in a six-point loss.
“I didn’t think we were hitting as well, making as much contact as we had,” Darian DeVries said postgame. “I thought we gave them some free runs at the basket. Some of them, we were in some rotations where we were coming late to get to them.”
In a game where the Hoosiers couldn’t come up with a few key plays to get all the way back from a halftime deficit, the inability to close out defensive possessions with rebounds was a tipping point in the loss.
Trojans enjoy a significant edge at the free-throw line
Indiana entered the game with the second-worst opponent free-throw rate (FTA/FGA) in the Big Ten and USC entered the contest with the second-best free-throw rate.
The Trojans, who aggressively look to pick you apart off the dribble and get to the rim, had Indiana on its heels for most of the game.
The Hoosiers struggled to stay in front of ball handlers and were often out of position, resulting in fouls and a lopsided margin in free throws attempted between the two teams.
USC shot 25-for-31 from the line, and Indiana, which shot 55.5 percent of its field goal attempts from beyond the 3-point line, was 13-for-16. The 12-point margin at the line was a key factor in the loss.
“I thought the biggest thing was, we had talked before the game, we couldn’t put them at the free throw line and they shot 31 free throws,” Darian DeVries said postgame. “So that’s a big starting point.”
Through 12 Big Ten games, Indiana now has the worst opponent free-throw rate in the league at 41.2 percent.
3-point shooting goes cold
On a night where it was outworked on the glass and couldn’t keep USC off the free-throw line, Indiana needed an efficient perimeter performance to steal a win.
The Hoosiers, just a few days removed from a double overtime win at UCLA, went cold from the perimeter.
Indiana shot 10-for-35 on 3-pointers, good for only 28.6 percent.
It was IU’s worst 3-point shooting performance since finishing 6-for-24 (25 percent) in a loss to Iowa on January 17 at Assembly Hall.
A rough shooting night from Nick Dorn and Tucker DeVries proved costly.
Dorn, who was red hot entering the game, was 2-for-12 on 3s. And DeVries continues to struggle from beyond the 3-point line in conference play. After Tuesday’s 1-for-8 mark, he is 25-for-87 on 3s (28.7 percent) on 3s in league play.
Lamar Wilkerson’s 33-point night kept Indiana in the game
One Hoosier finished Tuesday’s loss with a double-figure scoring output: Lamar Wilkerson.
The most consistent scoring option on the roster all season, Wilkerson poured in 33 points, his seventh game with 20 or more points in Big Ten play.
He shot 11-for-20 from the field, 5-for-12 on 3-pointers and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in 32 minutes. First half foul issues limited Wilkerson to only 12 minutes, but he played all 20 in the second stanza and scored 20 of his 33 points after halftime.
With just eight regular-season games left, Wilkerson has established himself as one of the Big Ten’s best scoring guards in his lone season at the high-major level.
He’s averaging 20.2 points and is shooting 39.1 percent in 33 minutes per game. Wilkerson’s KenPom game MVP on Tuesday was his eighth of the season.
Alijah Arenas shines after injury to Chad Baker-Mazara
USC’s best player, Chad Baker-Mazara, suffered a knee injury early in the second half, forcing him to the sidelines for the remainder of the game and likely beyond.
Without Baker-Mazara, the Trojans needed someone else to step up and lead.
USC went right to freshman guard Alijah Arenas, who was playing in the fifth game of his college career. One of the top players nationally in the class of 2025, Arenas missed the first 18 games this season while rehabbing from offseason surgery to repair a torn meniscus.
After scoring a total of just 30 points in his first four games, Arenas looked comfortable on Tuesday and dominated Indiana in the second half.
The 6-foot-6 freshman scored 19 of his team-high 29 points in the second half. He was 6-for-10 from the field, 2-for-3 on 3s and 5-for-5 in 20 second-half minutes.
He also hit two key 3-pointers after IU had closed the gap to four points at 59-55 with 7:09 to play to stretch the lead back to double figures. With his combination of size, skill and length, Indiana had no answer to stop Arenas.
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