SAN JUAN, P.R. – August 09, 2025 – forward Josh Harris #10 of the Indiana Hoosiers during the game between Mega SUPERBET and the Indiana Hoosiers at Roberto Clemente Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Photo By Dani Meersman/Indiana Athletics
An exhibition win in August in Puerto Rico is a long ways from a snowy night on the road in the Big Ten, but the IU basketball team started to build the character it takes to win at a high level in college hoops.
The Hoosiers fell behind Serbian professional team Mega Superbet 44-21 in the first half. IU looked like a team that had to refocus after a couple days of beach fun and helping local organizations learn the game of basketball. However, they rebounded to win 93-71.
“I thought their physicality really bothered us that first, first 10 minutes, but I really liked the way the guys responded.” IU head coach Darian Devries said after the game. “They got punched in their mouth a little bit down 24 there’s a lot of different ways that game can go from that point, and I just like the way they kind of pulled together, dug in and fought harder.”
Highlights from Indiana’s win over MegaSuper Bet. Courtesy of Indiana University Athletics
Mega Superbet was a step up in competition for the Hoosiers from Baymon on Wednesday night as they had second round NBA draft pick Bogoljub Markovic.
After trailing 48-35 at halftime the Hoosiers put on a defensive clinic to flip the script.
Indiana held MegaSuper Bet to just 5-29 from the floor in the second half and rode a swarming defense to 24 turnovers, which included five from Markovic.
“I liked it for us.” DeVries said. “There’s a lot of learning opportunities there for a lot of different areas. There are some good things for us as coaches to pull from it as we go forward. But, great game, big competitive game. I love that this is just a game in the middle of the summer, and I love the fact that both teams were competing at the level they were competing and wanted to win.”
On offense the Hoosiers were led by Lamar Wilkerson who had a big second half to finish with 18 points. He hit four of his seven three-point attempts and finished 7/11 from the field. Wilkerson is a player that can single-handily turn a game around.
After struggling with his shot in the game against Baymon, DeVries reiterated his faith in Wilkerson.
“Lamar can shoot as many times he wants. I have ultimate faith in Lamar making shots. I think you saw a glimpse of why we do in that second half.” DeVries said. “He can just change a game and two three possessions. You know, he can go 0-for-4 to 4-fo-8 court, 6-for-10 in a hurry.”
While an exhibition game in August will not determine an NCAA Tournament bid for IU , it did reveal a tiny bit about who these Hoosiers can be in 2025.
“I love the fact that we really fought hard to climb back into the game, so we went up in the locker room at halftime with a much more manageable situation than being down 24.” DeVries said.
“As we’re going through it, some (the leadership) has to come from from me, but it’s also good for me to hear from them how they’re responding to and how they’re reacting to each other as well. And that’s just part of being a, you know, a new coaching staff, new team, as we’re going through it. So again, there’s a lot of positives to take from it. A lot of great, great opportunities to learn too.”
The Hoosiers will face off against Mega Superbet again on Monday morning at 11am ET.
Other IU Basketball Notes
• Indiana starters: Tayton Conerway, Conor Enright, Lamar Wilkerson, Tucker DeVries, Reed Bailey
• The Hoosiers held the advantage in second-chance points (21-9), points off turnovers (38-19), paints points (42-26), and bench scoring (39-22).
• IU shot 34-of-76 (44.7%) from the floor, 10-of-29 (34.5%) from behind the arc, and 15-of-19 (78.9%) from the free throw line.
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