How it Happened: Indiana takes down Kansas State behind stout defensive performance

Indiana basketball faced its toughest test of the season to date Tuesday night inside of Assembly Hall, as the Hoosiers welcomed the high-powered offense of Kansas State to Bloomington.

The Hoosiers, behind a stout showing defensively and a strong second half performance from Reed Bailey, bested the Wildcats by a score of 86-69 to improve to 6-0 on the young season.

Here’s how it happened in a lively Assembly Hall.

3-point shooting keys Indiana to early lead

Indiana came out firing away from 3-point range on Tuesday night, which helped the Hoosiers jump out to an early double-figure lead.

With the shots falling early and often, Indiana got out to a quick 16-point lead before the second media timeout of the game.

Of the Hoosiers’ first 15 field goal attempts, 12 came from beyond the 3-point arc — with Indiana converting on five of them to build an early advantage.

However, as the first half wore on, the Hoosiers cooled off from distance. As they did, their lead began to shrink.

Indiana proceeded to miss six consecutive shots from downtown as Kansas State turned a 16-point hole into a just a 2-point deficit with just under seven minutes to play in the opening half.

While Indiana didn’t hold onto the double-figure lead it got out to throughout the entirety of the game, the Hoosiers were able to ride a hot start en route to a win in which they never trailed.

Indiana shuts down high-powered Kansas State offense

As Indiana worked itself into and out of cold spells on the offensive end of the floor, the Hoosiers’ work on the defensive end anchored and up and down shooting night.

Kansas State entered the contest averaging 92.8 points per game — a mark that ranked 27th in the country going into Tuesday night. The Wildcats were also top 20 in the country in assists per game (sixth), 3-point makes per game (20th), 3-point percentage (eighth) and field goal percentage (20th).

On Tuesday, Indiana held Kansas State to a season-low in points (66) and assists (nine), while forcing the Wildcats into a season-high 19 turnovers.

At the forefront of the defensive charge was Conor Enright. Enright drew the primary defensive assignment on PJ Haggerty, who entered the game as the nation’s leading scorer averaging north of 28 points per game.

He didn’t light up the box score — Enright finished with just seven points — but the senior guard held Haggerty to just 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting while forcing him into six turnovers.

In Indiana’s biggest test of the season to date, the Hoosiers saved their best defensive performance of the year for one of the nation’s most high-powered offenses.

Reed Bailey’s big second half powers Hoosiers to victory

Ever since a 21-point performance on opening night in a win over Alabama A&M, Bailey had struggled to find his groove for the Hoosiers. In his two most recent performances, against Incarnate Word and Lindenwood, Bailey totaled 13 points in just 29 minutes of action.

Bailey’s early season struggles looked as if they were going to persist Tuesday night in the first half. Bailey scored seven points — five of which game from the line — and went just 1-of-4 from the field with three turnovers in the contest’s opening frame.

However, in the second half, Bailey looked like the highly-regarded offseason addition that he was for Darian DeVries. Bailey scored six of Indiana’s first 10 points in the second half, as the Hoosiers pushed their lead out to as many as 20 points before the first TV timeout of the second half.

All told, Bailey tallied 14 points of his season-high 21 in the second half. He was a mainstay at the free throw line for the Hoosiers, getting to the free throw line 15 times and converting 13 of them on Tuesday night to help lead the Hoosiers to victory.

Not yet a member of TheHoosier?  Join our community for Just $1 for your first week and get a complimentary year of The Athletic included with your membership. Join here!

Make sure to follow and subscribe to all TheHoosier social media platforms so you never miss any of our content including X, Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts.