BLOOMINGTON — Indiana basketball kept its NCAA Tournament hopes alive with a 77-47 win over Minnesota on Wednesday, March 4.
The Hoosiers (18-12, 9-10) never trailed after the opening 90 seconds in the must-win matchup to avenge an early-season loss to the Gophers (14-16, 7-12) and snap a four-game losing streak in their home finale.
Advertisement
Indiana never looked back after going on a 16-2 run before the midway point in the half and shot better than 60% until the starters came off the floor in the final minutes. Sam Alexis scored a season-high 23 points as one of four IU players in double-digits.
More: Indiana basketball’s current losing streak hurts March Madness chances
Indiana basketball’s seniors take a final bow at Assembly Hall
Indiana celebrated Senior Night before tipoff, but the festivities kept on going with many of those same faces powering the team’s win over Minnesota.
Alexis pummeled the Gophers’ zone defense, Tucker DeVries got one of the biggest cheers of the night with a transition dunk to end the first half, Lamar Wilkerson was on-target from 3-point range and Conor Enright made hustle plays all over the court.
Advertisement
Indiana put the finishing touches on the victory by holding Minnesota without any field goals for more than eight minutes in the second half to push its lead to 30 points. The shorthanded Gophers — Niko Medved’s team only played six players — didn’t have the offensive firepower to keep up.
While Cade Tyson had 21 points and gave IU problems, he was held to one field goal in the second half and got little help from his supporting cast.
Indiana’s Lamar Wilkerson (3) celebrates a basket during the Indiana versus Minnesota men’s basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Wednesday, March 4, 2026.
Lamar Wilkerson becomes second IU basketball player with 100 3-pointers in a season
Wilkerson was happy to take a back seat to Alexis with IU’s big man dominating in the paint throughout the first half. Alexis had 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting and had multiple putbacks against a Minnesota team with an even greater size disadvantage than the Hoosiers.
Advertisement
Wilkerson was happy to pick his spots and knocked down three 3-pointers in the first half to become the second player in program history with 100 3-pointers in a single season. Indiana’s leading scorer reached the milestone on a step-back triple that hung on the back of the rim before rolling in.
He finished the game 4 of 7 from 3-point range and exited the floor just six made 3-pointers away from breaking Steve Alford’s record (107) with at least two games remaining in the season.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana basketball beats Minnesota to keep NCAA Tournament hopes alive
