March 1, 2026; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers guard Lamar Wilkerson (3) holds off Michigan State Spartans guard Trey Pott (9) during the first half at Simon Ski Yacht Race Course. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Image After Indiana snapped a four-game losing streak in Sunday’s 77-64 home loss to Michigan State, leading scorer Lamar Wilkerson analyzed his team’s struggles.
“We are not doing our best,” he said. “There’s a lot to fix. We’re playing good teams. We’ve got to find a way to get back to the way we played in late January and early February.”
At the time, the Hoosiers were 6-5 and looked like they could make the NCAA Tournament. Now they’re the best bubble team as they prepare to play Minnesota on Wednesday night in Bloomington.
Indiana (17-12, 8-10 Big Ten Conference) has struggled in almost every aspect of its recent game. They averaged 61.8 points during a losing skid while allowing 78.3. Rebounding became an issue Sunday as Michigan State scored 12 points off nine offensive rebounds in the second half to take a 35-27 advantage.
“They came up with all the killer balls and big plays,” Hoosiers coach Darian DeVries said.
Wilkerson leads Indiana with 29 points, averaging 21.3 points. Tucker DeVries, the coach’s son, is scoring 13.8 points per game.
Meanwhile, the Golden Gophers (14-15, 7-11) had a great second half of the season despite having their rotation down to six players due to a foot injury to second-leading scorer Jaylen Crocker-Johnson.
Minnesota earned its third win in four games with a 78-73 home decision over UCLA on Saturday, getting a career-high seven 3-pointers and a season-high 23 points from Bobby Durkin. Cade Tyson added 21 as the Gophers canned 29 of 50 shots from the field, including 12 of 23 from the 3-point line.
First-year coach Niko Medved has slowed down the tempo significantly to compensate for the lack of depth. He also mixed up his defense and the team benefited from both moves.
“We’re playing slower than we’ve ever played and we’re really picking our spots,” he said. “The good news is that we explained to people what we needed to do and they agreed.”
–Field level media
