Indiana basketball remains undefeated as unselfish identity continues

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball players came out with a little extra bounce in their step for the early tip against Bethune-Cookman on Saturday afternoon at Assembly Hall.

The No. 24 Hoosiers (7-0) gave the program's sleepy football fans something to cheer about with a handful of dazzling plays right out of the gate in the 100-56 win.

After Indiana forward Tucker DeVries opened the game with a four-point play, Tayton Conerway dropped in a pair of under-handed layups in heavy traffic. It pumped the sparse crowd that carried through the game with IU scoring at will.

DeVries had a team-high 20 points as one of five Hoosiers in double digits to help them score 100 or more points for the third time this season. The team under coach Darian DeVries has scored 100 points in as many games this season as it did during Mike Woodson's entire tenure.

Indiana reserve guard Jasai Miles got a huge ovation for his free throw with 23 seconds left to get the Hoosiers to the century mark.

IU basketball’s offense was poetry in motion against Bethune-Cookman

Indiana scored 1.43 points per possession in the first half against Bethune-Cookman. The Hoosiers shot 54.5% from the field, made 12 3-pointers and tied a season-high with 27 assists on 35 made field goals.

Conerway initiated a play late in the first half that summed up IU's high level of execution.

After grabbing a defensive rebound, Conerway pushed the pace and faked a drive through the lane, only to toss a behind the back pass to Conor Enright at the top of the key without looking in his direction.

Enright swung it around the arc without missing a beat to set up a 3-pointer from Tucker DeVries to give the Hoosiers a 43-19 lead with oohs and ahhs punctuating each moment.

Indiana’s inexperience playing together still bubbles to the surface at times, but one clear takeaway from the first month of the season is that everyone in the rotation has bought into Darian DeVries’ unselfish brand of basketball and it’s a pretty sight when it all comes together.

Indiana basketball already has a reliable seven-man rotation

Indiana’s substitution patterns under Woodson would usually elicit groans from the crowd at Assembly Hall.

It’s been the opposite for Darian DeVries.

DeVries has been pretty consistent through seven games by going to his bench early in each half — usually somewhere around the 16:30-mark — with Sam Alexis and Trent Sisley usually checking in together.

The energy they bring to the floor has made them fan favorites, but their consistent contributions have earned them steady minutes.

Alexis has basically split the duties at the five spot with Reed Bailey as IU’s best interior defender. He’s shown an effective post game as well, and leads the team with a 73.1% shooting percentage while averaging 10.0 points per game.

He had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting with eight rebounds, one block and two steals against Bethune-Cookman.

Sisley is more mistake prone as a freshman, but his all-out hustle makes those easy to live with for DeVries. He’s a dynamic off-ball cutter who has shown a knack for finding open lanes to the hoop.

He topped his season averages on Saturday with 14 points and a season-high nine rebounds. His night ended with an alley-oop from Enright in the final minutes.

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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana basketball score today vs Bethune-Cookman, unselfish identity, record