Hoosiers Fall Late on Tuesday Night

Tuesday, February 24

Bloomington, Ind.

7:00 PM

Indiana University

17-11,8-9Big Ten

Northwestern

12-16,4-13Big Ten

Northwestern

Indiana

2/24/2026 9:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind -- Nailbiter time arrived, unwanted, unexpected, unrelenting Tuesday night against Northwestern at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Indiana needed a big play, a key stop, a defining crunch-time basket. It needed to tap into the toughness it showed at UCLA and Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago, both overtime victories.

It never came. The Hoosiers lost their second-half offense, and then the game, 72-68.

Guard Lamar Wilkerson took it personal.

"We weren't hooked up as a team," Wilkerson said. "We have to be better. I have to be better in leading this team, in stepping up.

"This was a game we shouldn't have lost. Northwestern is a good team. They played a good game, but this was a self-inflicted loss."

As a result, what could have been became what wasn't. A 13-point first-half lead dissolved amid second-half offensive inefficiency. IU (17-11 overall, 8-9 in the Big Ten) missed 11 straight crunch-time shots, creating an opening Northwestern (12-16, 4-13) exploited behind high-scoring forward Nick Martinelli.

"Offensively, we couldn't get anything going in the second half," coach Darian DeVries said. "That allowed them to stay in the game. Now, we had to make plays and we weren't able to make them."

After a forward Tucker DeVries jumper at the 10:04 mark, the Hoosiers made nothing but free throws for the next nine minutes until guard Tayton Conerway powered in a couple of layups.

It wasn't enough.

"We could have made some plays down the stretch," Wilkerson said. "This hurts. This hurts our resume. When we got up, we shouldn't have gotten comfortable. We have to do better."

With a third straight loss, the postseason implications were obvious, and an emotional Tucker DeVries showed it in the aftermath.

"I feel I let this group down," he said. "This was an opportunity we had to take advantage of. To have one of our last (regular-season games) go like this is a tough one."

With just three regular-season games remaining – Sunday at home against No. 13/13 Michigan State (22-5, 12-4), March 4 at home against Minnesota (13-14, 6-10) and then March 7 at Ohio State (17-10, 9-7), turn-around possibilities remain.

"We know the opportunities that are left," Tucker DeVries said. "We have to flip this page quick."

Added Wilkerson: "We have to get these next ones."

Northwestern had Martinelli, the Big Ten's leading scorer. IU had Wilkerson, the scoring leader in conference-only games. Martinelli delivered 28 points, 21 in the second half.

Wilkerson drained his first four shots, all from 3-point range, then muscled in a layup to show – once again – his offensive versatility. But then the scoring sputtered. He finished with 18 points.

Forward Sam Alexis made his first six shots, all inside the paint. He finished with 13 points. Conerway added 14 points. Tucker DeVries had 11.

"This was a tough loss," Darian DeVries said. "We have a big homestand. This was the first game. It was an opportunity to start off on a good note. It didn't happen.

"We have to make sure we put it away. We have to look in the mirror and get some things figured out."

Wilkerson and guard Nick Dorn opened the game with 3-pointers. Wilkerson made it 4-for-4 on 3-pointers as IU surged ahead 20-13 in nine minutes. A Tucker DeVries 3-pointer made it 23-13.

The Hoosiers made seven of eight shots to build a 28-17 lead, then pushed ahead 36-24. Wilkerson's 14 points, and eight points each from Alexis and Dorn, gave IU a 42-33 halftime lead. It shot 63 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.

Northwestern began the second half by closing within three points. Tucker DeVries' 3-pointer doubled that lead. Conerway added a 3-pointer for a 50-41 Hoosier advantage.

The Wildcats inched back. The give-and-take pattern continued to the eight-minute mark, then six, then five. IU led 59-58, then trailed by one on a Martinelli jumper. Wilkerson's two free throws 16 seconds later took care of that. Martinelli countered with a 3-pointer and then a jumper for a 65-61 Wildcats lead as the clock ticked under two minutes.

Wilkerson's two free throws were offset by another Martinelli jumper for a 67-63 Northwestern advantage with 48.2 seconds remaining.

Conerway's layup and Alexis's free throw made it 67-66 with 15 seconds left. The Wildcats' Jake West made two free throws. Conerway drove for another layup. West made two more free throw. Northwestern's Arrinten Page added one more for the final 72-68 score.

Next up -- Michigan State.

"This one hurts bad," Tucker DeVries said, "but it's important for us to realize we still have three opportunities We're not out of the mix. The season won't be defined by this game. We've gone through rough patches before and responded. We know we're capable of doing that again."