Indiana University Athletics
Tuesday, November 25
Bloomington, Ind.
8:00 PM
Indiana University
vs
Kansas State
Top 25 IU Set to Face Kansas State and Its ‘Wow’ Offense
11/25/2025 2:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Learning continues. You knew that, right about this Indiana basketball team, the one with 10 transfers and an entirely new 17-player roster; the one that is 5-0 with three dominant performances and two less impressive ones; the squad that just jumped into the Associate Press rankings at No. 25 while moving to No. 24 in the coaches' poll?
Coach Darian DeVries knew there would be ups and downs in his debut Hoosier season. He's coached rebuilds before, once at Drake, and then at West Virginia. Peak performance takes time.
"The biggest thing is you're learning a lot every time you step out on the floor," DeVries says during Monday media availability at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. "Whether it's practice, games, whatever, they're just a different situation where with every individual on the team you don't know how they're going to react because you haven't coached them together before.
"Those are things early in the year that you figure out a lot very quickly. You can't really simulate it until you start to play games. Every situation you get put in, it's something new for the group."
New situations will continue throughout the season, he adds.
"That's especially true with a brand-new team because you don't have the data to think how are they going to respond to a two-point game or this certain style of play or whatever it may be."
Kansas State (5-1) comes to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Tuesday night, bringing with it one of the nation's top-scoring offenses. It averages 92.8 points a game and has scored 93 or more points four times.
"Wow. That's what I say about the way they're playing offense right now," DeVries says. "They are getting out, they're getting out fast, they're in transition, they put a lot of pressure on your defense to get organized and get put together in a hurry. They have a lot of guys that can shoot it."
For perspective, IU averages 88.2 points with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.36, the third best mark in the country. Forward Tucker DeVries leads the team in scoring (19.2 points) while shooting 46.5% on 3-pointers.
The Wildcats are coming off Friday night's 86-85 loss at Nebraska. Guard RJ Hagerty had 27 points. Guard Abdi Bashi had 26.
Hagerty, a 6-foot-4 transfer from Memphis, averages a national-best 28.0 points a game along with 5.3 rebounds. He shoots 56.0% from the field and 40.9% on 3s. He's scored at least 23 points in every game. He also has a team-leading 28 assists.
Bashir averages 14.3 points. Three other players average in double figures -- guard Nate Johnson (13.7), guard David Castillo (11.8), and 6-foot-9 forward Kamari McGriff (11.7). Johnson also averages 6.2 rebounds.
The Wildcats rank No. 9 nationally in 3-point shooting at 43.3%.
"(At one time) they were the No. 1 3-point shooting team in the country, and they're playing like it," Darian DeVries said. "They're shooting with that type of confidence.
"It will be a great test for us in not only transition but our half-court defense to do a good job there."
IU faces a formidable challenge in limiting Haggerty, who generates 34 percent of Kansas State's offense
"He's been off to an incredible start, playing at a high, high level," Darian DeVries says. "He creates a lot for others too. It's not just him scoring. He comes off, he finds those shooters.
"He does a really good job of getting fouled in the paint. He gets in there and gets to the free-throw line a lot, and then he's got good size. He's got good body control. When he gets in there, he can finish over you as well.
"There are a lot of reasons why he's off to the start that he is. He's a good player, talented player. It's going to take a collective effort to do a good job on him, but also not focus so much attention on him that now you're allowing those guys the catch and shoot set they're looking for too."
For IU, rebounding remains a concern. It gave up 19 offensive rebounds during last Thursday's 73-53 win over Lindenwood. Opponents have 57 offensive rebounds to the Hoosiers' 50.
Improvement is a matter of approach, says forward Sam Alexis, who averages a team-high 7.0 rebounds.
"It's just attacking practice every day," he says. "We do the drills. Like the pad drill we do every day in practice. It's taking that more serious every time we step on the court."
Effort isn't a problem, Alexis adds.
"I feel like we're showing effort out there. It's more about hitting bodies and squeezing the ball."
With IU set to face bigger, taller, stronger teams moving forward, Darian DeVries says the solution is a combination of crashing the boards harder and putting players in different positions. It starts by focusing on where the Hoosiers can get better. They can't change their size, but they can control their boxing out.
"That's a little bit of an attitude, prioritizing rebounding," Darian DeVries says. "Collectively as a group, we can get there and will get there. We're just not there yet.
"There are some habits we've got to continue to get better at. There's also a little bit of a mindset thing that we've got to continue to improve on. If we're going to be a good defensive rebounding team, those are the things we have to be good at. If we're going to be a good team, we have to be good at defensive rebounding. That's going to be huge for us all year.
"On a nightly basis, that's going to determine in a lot of our outcomes. Can we be physical enough, tough enough, and have the right mindset to go get those balls?"
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Learning continues. You knew that, right about this Indiana basketball team, the one with 10 transfers and an entirely new 17-player roster; the one that is 5-0 with three dominant performances and two less impressive ones; the squad that just jumped into the Associate Press rankings at No. 25 while moving to No. 24 in the coaches' poll?
Coach Darian DeVries knew there would be ups and downs in his debut Hoosier season. He's coached rebuilds before, once at Drake, and then at West Virginia. Peak performance takes time.
"The biggest thing is you're learning a lot every time you step out on the floor," DeVries says during Monday media availability at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. "Whether it's practice, games, whatever, they're just a different situation where with every individual on the team you don't know how they're going to react because you haven't coached them together before.
"Those are things early in the year that you figure out a lot very quickly. You can't really simulate it until you start to play games. Every situation you get put in, it's something new for the group."
New situations will continue throughout the season, he adds.
"That's especially true with a brand-new team because you don't have the data to think how are they going to respond to a two-point game or this certain style of play or whatever it may be."
Kansas State (5-1) comes to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Tuesday night, bringing with it one of the nation's top-scoring offenses. It averages 92.8 points a game and has scored 93 or more points four times.
"Wow. That's what I say about the way they're playing offense right now," DeVries says. "They are getting out, they're getting out fast, they're in transition, they put a lot of pressure on your defense to get organized and get put together in a hurry. They have a lot of guys that can shoot it."
For perspective, IU averages 88.2 points with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.36, the third best mark in the country. Forward Tucker DeVries leads the team in scoring (19.2 points) while shooting 46.5% on 3-pointers.
The Wildcats are coming off Friday night's 86-85 loss at Nebraska. Guard RJ Hagerty had 27 points. Guard Abdi Bashi had 26.
Hagerty, a 6-foot-4 transfer from Memphis, averages a national-best 28.0 points a game along with 5.3 rebounds. He shoots 56.0% from the field and 40.9% on 3s. He's scored at least 23 points in every game. He also has a team-leading 28 assists.
Bashir averages 14.3 points. Three other players average in double figures -- guard Nate Johnson (13.7), guard David Castillo (11.8), and 6-foot-9 forward Kamari McGriff (11.7). Johnson also averages 6.2 rebounds.
The Wildcats rank No. 9 nationally in 3-point shooting at 43.3%.
"(At one time) they were the No. 1 3-point shooting team in the country, and they're playing like it," Darian DeVries said. "They're shooting with that type of confidence.
"It will be a great test for us in not only transition but our half-court defense to do a good job there."
IU faces a formidable challenge in limiting Haggerty, who generates 34 percent of Kansas State's offense
"He's been off to an incredible start, playing at a high, high level," Darian DeVries says. "He creates a lot for others too. It's not just him scoring. He comes off, he finds those shooters.
"He does a really good job of getting fouled in the paint. He gets in there and gets to the free-throw line a lot, and then he's got good size. He's got good body control. When he gets in there, he can finish over you as well.
"There are a lot of reasons why he's off to the start that he is. He's a good player, talented player. It's going to take a collective effort to do a good job on him, but also not focus so much attention on him that now you're allowing those guys the catch and shoot set they're looking for too."
For IU, rebounding remains a concern. It gave up 19 offensive rebounds during last Thursday's 73-53 win over Lindenwood. Opponents have 57 offensive rebounds to the Hoosiers' 50.
Improvement is a matter of approach, says forward Sam Alexis, who averages a team-high 7.0 rebounds.
"It's just attacking practice every day," he says. "We do the drills. Like the pad drill we do every day in practice. It's taking that more serious every time we step on the court."
Effort isn't a problem, Alexis adds.
"I feel like we're showing effort out there. It's more about hitting bodies and squeezing the ball."
With IU set to face bigger, taller, stronger teams moving forward, Darian DeVries says the solution is a combination of crashing the boards harder and putting players in different positions. It starts by focusing on where the Hoosiers can get better. They can't change their size, but they can control their boxing out.
"That's a little bit of an attitude, prioritizing rebounding," Darian DeVries says. "Collectively as a group, we can get there and will get there. We're just not there yet.
"There are some habits we've got to continue to get better at. There's also a little bit of a mindset thing that we've got to continue to improve on. If we're going to be a good defensive rebounding team, those are the things we have to be good at. If we're going to be a good team, we have to be good at defensive rebounding. That's going to be huge for us all year.
"On a nightly basis, that's going to determine in a lot of our outcomes. Can we be physical enough, tough enough, and have the right mindset to go get those balls?"
Players Mentioned
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