Indiana came into Saturday’s matchup against Iowa knowing the stakes. A Quad 1 win was on the line - something the Hoosiers hadn’t yet claimed this season - and at home, no less. But instead of seizing the opportunity, Indiana stumbled through a 74-57 loss that raised more questions than answers about where this team is headed.
This wasn’t just a loss - it was a missed chance in front of a restless crowd at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. From the opening tip, it was clear Indiana didn’t have its best stuff. The Hoosiers were flat, inefficient, and ultimately overwhelmed by an Iowa team that simply executed better in every phase.
The first eight minutes were a slog. Neither team could find a rhythm, combining to shoot just 6-for-25 from the floor.
The only real spark for Indiana came from a Conor Enright 3-pointer, which briefly woke up the crowd. But Iowa still held a 10-5 lead at the under-12 timeout, and the tone was set.
Then, for a brief stretch, the game opened up. From the 11:29 mark to just over five minutes left in the half, both teams caught fire, combining for 15 straight made field goals.
It was the kind of back-and-forth you expect from two evenly matched squads. But even in that stretch, Iowa maintained control, holding a 30-23 lead.
Tayton Conerway kept Indiana within striking distance with 10 first-half points, including a strong finish inside that cut the deficit to five. But the Hawkeyes responded with an 8-3 run to close the half, and the Hoosiers trudged into the locker room down 38-28 - accompanied by a chorus of boos from a frustrated home crowd.
Coming out of the break, Indiana showed some life. A quick 9-4 run, featuring a Nick Dorn 3-pointer and contributions from Conerway, Sam Alexis, and Lamar Wilkerson, pulled the Hoosiers within five at 42-37. But that was as close as they’d get.
This game had a clear theme: every time Indiana made a push, Iowa had an answer.
The Hoosiers trimmed the lead to four midway through the second half, but Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz drilled a 3-pointer to stop the momentum. A shot clock violation on Indiana’s next possession led to another Iowa bucket from Tavion Banks, and just like that, the cushion was back to nine.
Then came a dagger - another Stirtz triple, a step-back over two defenders with the shot clock winding down. That sequence pushed the lead to 10 again, and Indiana never recovered.
By the under-8 timeout, the game had slipped away. Iowa led 62-48, and fans - especially in the student section - started heading for the exits.
The Hoosiers went nearly nine minutes without a field goal, a brutal stretch that included missed shots, empty possessions, and little resistance on the defensive end. A dunk from Alexis finally broke the drought, but by then, the deficit was 18 and the damage was done.
Offensively, Indiana just couldn’t get its top scorers going. Tucker DeVries and Wilkerson - the duo expected to carry the scoring load - combined to shoot 5-of-19 for just 16 points. Conerway, the Troy transfer, was the lone bright spot with 16 points of his own, but he couldn’t do it alone.
“He certainly is in one of those shooting slumps that everybody goes through at some point in time,” head coach Darian DeVries said of his son, Tucker. “He’s got to get it going and got to continue to find those better looks and opportunities so we can get him free a little bit more.”
Another key for Indiana was supposed to be getting Iowa into foul trouble and capitalizing at the free throw line. But that plan never materialized.
The Hoosiers got to the line just 15 times, while Iowa made 21 of its 23 attempts. Stirtz led the way with a game-high 27 points and five assists, while Banks added 26 - a one-two punch Indiana never found a way to contain.
Even when the Hoosiers had chances to claw back - trailing by single digits multiple times in the second half - they couldn’t string together enough stops or buckets to flip the script. The three-point shooting, a strength earlier in the season, was ice cold: just 6-of-24 from deep.
“First 15 games of the year our offense was moving, cutting, we were playing the way that we think makes us successful,” DeVries said. “I felt like the last two or three games we have gotten away from that action.”
Now, the road only gets tougher. Indiana heads to Ann Arbor next to take on Michigan - KenPom’s No. 1 ranked team - in what promises to be another major test. If the Hoosiers don’t rediscover their offensive identity soon, that elusive Quad 1 win might be even harder to come by.