Winners of four of its last five games, Indiana is out for more as it hosts struggling Oregon on Monday night in Bloomington, Ind.
The Hoosiers (16-8, 7-6 Big Ten) are coming off a 78-77 overtime win over visiting Wisconsin in which guard Lamar Wilkerson scored his team’s final 10 points, including all six in OT. Wilkerson led the way with 25 points total.
Wilkerson’s 20.4 points per game leads Indiana in scoring this season. He and teammate Tucker DeVries (13.8 ppg) have guided the Hoosiers’ offensive surge.
Wilkerson is averaging 23.2 points per game in Big Ten play — most of anyone in the conference — and has scored at least 19 points in five straight games. He is second in the Big Ten in made 3-pointers per game, with 3.3 for all contests.
Indiana head coach Darian DeVries has a long history with his counterpart on Monday, Oregon head coach Dana Altman. DeVries was a graduate manager (1998-2001) and assistant coach for nine seasons (2001-10) on Altman’s Creighton staff.
“The guys have been doing a much better job of finding creases to get in there, finish at the rim, get fouled, and then get some kick-out threes,” Darian DeVries said of his team.
Oregon (8-15, 1-11) has lost nine straight games, though the Ducks took No. 12 Purdue down to the wire on the road on Saturday. The game marked the return of big man Nate Bittle from an injury that cost him five games, and Bittle finished with 23 points.
The Ducks are missing another top scorer, guard Jackson Shelstad, who may not return this season due to injury. But the 68-64 loss to Purdue showed there is still some life in the team, even though this season will be the worst in Altman’s tenure as head coach.
“We know where we’re at,” Altman said, per the Eugene (Ore.) Register-Guard. “We know the losing streak is there, but just talked to the guys, we’ve got to focus on getting better and someday it’ll happen for us.”
