[6BS] Basketball Picks Up Key Win Against Wisconsin
IU Remains On Track For NCAA Tournament After Victory Over Badgers
Welcome to another edition of 6-Banner Sunday, a joint production between The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall, and presented by our friends at Homefield Apparel, where we highlight the five most essential IU basketball stories of the past week, plus take a look at how the other IU sports programs are doing.
IU got the split it needed this week in basketball to remain on track for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers recovered from a loss on Tuesday at USC with a thrilling win over Wisconsin yesterday.
Also, we will look at Bracketology, and the women’s basketball team got its first two Big Ten victories. As usual, we will conclude with weekly shows and a look at the rest of the Indiana sports in action, which was led by a strong opening weekend from softball.
In brief news, a former IU star was traded at the NBA trade deadline. Trayce Jackson-Davis was moved from the Golden State Warriors to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for a second-round pick.
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Here is what is in this week’s edition:
Hoosiers Pick Up Key Win Over Wisconsin In Thriller
IU Falls To USC To Close West Coast Road Trip
NCAA Bracketology
Women Pick Up First Two Big Ten Wins
Weekly Shows
Hoosier Roundup-Softball Has Strong Opening Weekend
Banner #1: Hoosiers Pick Up Key Win Over Wisconsin In Thriller
IU basketball picked up a massive victory over Wisconsin on Saturday to remain on track for the NCAA Tournament (more below). In a contest between two teams clinging to a postseason bid, the Hoosiers won a thriller.
Indiana controlled this game comfortably for most of the day. However, as has happened so many times this season, a late run by the opponent occurred as the Hoosiers ran out of gas due to a lack of depth.
Sam Alexis did everything he could to keep IU a few possessions ahead by scoring inside, on a rare day when his squad struggled from long range with just five makes from there. However, the offense fell apart in the last few minutes, and the Badgers turned a 68-62 deficit into a 72-68 advantage in the final minute.
However, in a complete 180 from previous versions of Hoosier basketball, the 2025-2026 one makes its free throws in the clutch. Lamar Wilkerson had four makes from the charity stripe late to force overtime and four more in the extra session.
Indiana trailed 77-74 late in the OT, but Wilkerson made a layup to cut the deficit to a single point, and Conor Enright drew a charge to give IU a possession to win. Wilkerson took advantage of this as he was fouled with under three seconds left and made both from the line to go ahead. A last second halfcourt heave from Wisconsin was not close.
The final was 78-77 as Wilkerson finished with 25 points to lead the Hoosiers, including the last 10 points Indiana scored in the game. Alexis added 19 points, Tucker DeVries came out of his slump to contribute 16 points, while Enright rounded out the squad’s double-figure scorers with 11 points.
Afterwards, IU coach Darian DeVries spoke, Inside the Hall had a photo gallery, Ryan Corazza wrote a Minute After, Alex Bozich penned Five Takeaways, and Nick Rodecap put together a column about Enright.
Banner #2: IU Falls To USC To Close West Coast Road Trip
The victory over the Badgers was so critical due to what happened on Tuesday. In the finale of their West Coast road trip, Indiana came out flat.
While IU made a late run after falling behind by double figures, it was not enough. The Hoosiers fell to USC 81-75 after getting the lead down to one in the final minute.
Wilkerson was the only one who scored big on the night. He was also the only Indiana player to hit double figures and scored nearly half of his team’s total points, finishing with 33.
Afterwards, Coach DeVries spoke, Corazza wrote a Minute After and Film Session, Bozich penned Five Takeaways, and Josh Pos penned a column about IU nearly pulling the comeback.
Their next game comes up fast, but it’s against a team struggling big time due to multiple injuries. The Hoosiers face an Oregon squad with just one conference win tomorrow at 8:30 pm on FS1, where a bad loss will need to be avoided.
Banner #3: NCAA Bracketology
At 16-8 overall and 7-6 in the Big Ten, the Hoosiers are almost certainly on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble following their recent hot streak. With winning four out of five, IU now has two quad one wins and a solid NET in the low 30’s.
These metrics are much improved from the previous versions of this squad due to beating struggling teams by large margins. They have also kept their defeats to relatively low amounts outside of a couple of exceptions, which was also an issue in the past.
Looking at Bracketology, Indiana appears relatively safe in the field at the moment. They can likely shore up a spot by simply defeating the three struggling oppositions coming into Assembly Hall over the next few weeks. However, to stay out of Dayton and the “First Four’, an additional victory would be helpful as it would get them to 20 overall on the season and a winning record in conference play.
Inside the Hall and Assembly Call’s own Bracketologist, Andy Bottoms. projected the Hoosiers as a 10 seed earlier in the week. Other projections had Indiana around the nine or 10 line as well.
Banner #4: Women Pick Up First Two Big Ten Wins
The women’s extreme struggles in this Big Ten season finally took a back seat this week. After going winless all of January, the squad has won its first two games in February, defeating Northwestern last Sunday and winning at Wisconsin on Wednesday.
While the NCAA Tournament is well out of reach, the Hoosiers face arch-rival Purdue today in Bloomington, looking for a realistic third straight win. This matchup is critical, as only the top-15 make the conference tournament, and a victory today would put them above that cutline.
Also, while March Madness is not realistic, beating the Boilermakers as well as struggling Rutgers and Penn State late in the season would keep the Hoosiers above .500 overall. This would make them eligible for the second-tier WNIT or WBIT to participate in some form of postseason play.
Finally, while 2025-2026 has been an extreme struggle, the future is much brighter. This is because the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history will come in next season, and Addy Nyemchek, the top-ranked player in it, was named the program’s first McDonald’s All-American.
Presenting Sponsor: Homefield Apparel
Homefield’s annual Black Friday sale has already begun. Use the promo code BLACKFRIDAY at checkout to get 20% off your entire order.
The item of the week for this week is the new “Hurryin’ Hoosiers” snapback hat. Both
Jerod Morris and Tony Adragna have it, and can attest to its quality and fit.
Plus, how cool is it to have an item celebrating the great teams under Branch McCracken?
Banner #5: Weekly Shows
Podcast on the Brink returned this week. On it, Alex Bozich was joined by the IndyStar’s Zach Osterman to discuss IU’s offseason in football and the stretch run in basketball.
Also, The Back Home Network has many shows. As a result, it was on air many times this week with programming.
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Banner #6: Hoosier Roundup-Softball Has Strong Opening Weekend
Softball had a solid first weekend, defeating Army, Ohio State, Delaware, and Stonehill after a season-opening loss to elite Florida Atlantic.
Wrestling continued what was a dominating week of the Badgers across IU athletics, upsetting top-15 Wisconsin.
Men’s tennis beat Middle Tennessee, Toledo, and Dartmouth.
Women’s tennis beat West Virginia to remain perfect to open their year.
Women’s golf finished seventh at its first tournament of the spring season.
Track and field took part in the Windy City Invitational.
Water polo suffered its first loss of the season to Harvard.
Football announced its new Director of Athletic Performance.
Men’s soccer announced its spring exhibition schedule and signed its next recruiting class.
Field hockey announced its spring exhibition schedule.
Thanks for your continued support of The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall. We’ll be back next weekend with a new roundup.
Now go enjoy yourself a 6-banner Sunday.
Aaron (Ari) Shifron
Assembly Call Contributor
The Assembly Call is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.