CAROLINA, Puerto Rico – Greetings, from the Coliseo Guillermo Angulo, in Carolina.
Normally the home of Gigantes de Carolina/Canovanas, tonight it will play host to the start of the Darian DeVries era at Indiana.
In the first of three games on this summer tour, IU will defeated Universidad de Bayamon, 98-47. Next, the Hoosiers will play back-to-back games against Mega Superbet, the same Serbian club IU faced during their preseason tour in the Bahamas four years ago.
How will Indiana fare in Puerto Rico? Follow along for live updates.
We’ll have final stats shortly, but this went about as expected.
IU’s starters played roughly 2 1/2 quarters. The Hoosiers didn’t shoot the ball well from behind the arc but that didn’t stop them from trying.
Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson are probably this team’s top scorers right now. Reed Bailey looks like a real weapon. Tayton Conerway’s role will be crucial at both ends of the floor. Same with Sam Alexis. Trent Sisley has a chance to play real minutes for this group this winter.
All of that is admittedly early reaction, but after one exhibition game, early reaction is all we’ve got.
More to come tonight at IndyStar Sports. Stay tuned.
IU 84, Bayamon 40, 4:54 left: Not much left to break down in this one. Most of Indiana’s starters are done for the night. The game has been comfortably in hand since early in the second quarter.
We’re getting a lot of Harris, Ristic and Sisley right now. Each has flashed multiple times tonight, especially Sisley with scoring and Harris with his energy. But this game is long past competitive.
End of 3Q, IU 74, Bayamon 33: Aleksa Ristic has been running point whenever he’s been on the floor. It feels telling that, despite just joining the program, he’s taking the ball on every inbounds following a made basket. If you had any doubts about where he fits with this team, there you go.
Another couple good moments for Trent Sisley, though one was waved off for a shot-clock violation.
We also have our first Ian Stephens run of the night. Indiana obviously can’t go too deep, with Rayford out injured. But Stephens will get run in the fourth.
IU 61, Bayamon 23, 5:29 left 3Q: Bayamon hasn’t scored since well before halftime, as Indiana’s sheer depth is driving the hosts out of this game.
Bailey has looked really, really good offensively. Guard-level handle, confidence in the open floor, great finishing and good instincts following shots at the rim. Has cleaned up some trash in addition to looking like a weapon on the break.
As I type that, Trent Sisley flushes a second-chance basket off a DeVries missed 3. Indiana was 6-of-21 from range in the first half, which tells two stories, of course. One about missed 3s, and another about a willingness to not just take them, but intentionally create them.
Jason Drake did not travel with Indiana on this trip. He’s back in Bloomington. Drake was one of the players we saw sitting out injured during last week’s open practice.
The Hoosiers pulled away comfortably in the last 5-7 minutes of the half. Bayamon was scoreless for at least the last four minutes (live stats aren’t available), and again, Bayamon just didn’t have the quality to hang on.
There was a telling moment near the end of the first half, when Conerway found Enright on the run with just one defender near him. Instead of reaching for the easy layup, Enright threw a hard pass to DeVries on the wing.
DeVries’ 3 didn’t go in, but the emphasis alone spoke volumes. Indiana is intent upon being a team that runs the floor, spaces it and scores from all over it. I could count on one hand the number of designed post-ups Indiana ran in the half-court across those two quarters.
This is what Darian DeVries promised. It’s still striking to see.
IU 39, Bayamon 23, 4:01 left 2Q: Both Ristic and Sisley have had some good moments here early. Ristic got a bucket earlier and narrowly missed on a transition 3 a minute ago that came from good footwork and showcased a smooth release.
Sisley did one better, grabbing a bucket on a back-door cut and then tossing in a 3 on the following possession.
Indiana’s quality is starting to tell now. Bayamon doesn’t have the quality to resist for long stretches.
IU 32, Bayamon 18, 8:11 left 2Q: It was undeniably the biggest question mark coming out of last week’s open practice, and there have still been breakdowns tonight.
A lot of it is occurring in help and switch situations (two players following the same man, problems with screens, that sort of thing). Individually, Indiana isn’t getting beat off the dribble very much, which it shouldn’t against this level of competition. And as discussed a minute ago, players like Conerway, DeVries and Wilkerson are creating possessions with turnovers leading to runouts.
The Hoosiers’ defensive shortcomings right now are structural more than skills-based.
END OF 1Q: IU 26, Bayamon 15: Cutting down on the turnovers, and coupling that to some good energy inside from Josh Harris and Sam Alexis, helped pull Indiana away in the last 2 1/2 minutes of the quarter.
There was a lot of Lamar Wilkerson when he was on the floor in that quarter. Not just in terms of shot volume, but also in teammates clearly looking for him with the ball, and deferring to him in scoring situations. Next to Tucker DeVries, he looks like one of IU’s 2-3 primary options right now.
Tayton Conerway’s defensive pressure creates problems for the opposition. He’s a possession generator on defense right now.
Indiana 18, Bayamon 11, 3:00 left 1Q: Already we’ve seen every available player on the floor for Indiana, including Aleksa Ristic (who goes by “Alex”). Darian DeVries hasn’t been shy of running through his players, evaluating lineups as he goes.
Turnovers have slowed IU’s momentum in the last couple minutes.
Indiana 16, Bayamon 8, 5:11 left 1Q: A lot of Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson early. Both have made 3s. Wilkerson doesn’t mind giving himself the green light when defense sags, but the best understanding of the offense clearly lies (unsurprisingly) with DeVries, who just hit another triple as I typed this.
We’re playing quarters tonight, so the structure of the game will be a little different. Wilkerson just drew a foul in transition. IU’s first two subs off the bench are Jasai Miles (Conerway) and Sam Alexis (Bailey).
6:58 p.m.: Indiana will run with a first five tonight as follows:
Conor Enright, Tayton Conerway, Lamar Wilkerson, Tucker DeVries and Reed Bailey.
That’s the same five we saw working as IU’s first unit in practice last week. No surprises here.
6:15 p.m.: That’s where Indiana will tipoff in roughly 45 minutes, against Universidad de Bayamon. Traffic held the Hoosiers up slightly getting here, but warmups are now well underway.
As expected, Nick Dorn won’t participate in tonight’s game. Nor will Jordan Rayford, but new arrival Aleksa Ristic is dressed out after joining the team just before it left for Puerto Rico.
We’ll have starting lineups closer to tipoff. Follow along for updates all night. -Zach
The game against Puerto Rico tips off at 7 p.m. ET.
The event will not be televised or streamed.
Wed., Aug. 6: IU vs Universidad de Bayamon (Puerto Rico), 7 p.m.Sat., Aug. 9: IU vs Mega Superbet (Serbia), 7 p.m.Mon., Aug. 11: IU vs Mega Superbet (Serbia), 11 a.m.