On senior day, Indiana guard Devonte Green exploded for 16 points in the first half on 6-10 shooting. A turned left ankle halted his regular-season sendoff, and he closed the second half without scoring in a 60-56 loss to Wisconsin on Saturday.
In the final regular-season home game of their careers, seniors Devonte Green and De’Ron Davis heared their names announced in the Indiana starting lineup. They scored the team’s first 17 points in a 60-56 loss against Wisconsin on Saturday.
Davis opened the game with back-to-back scoring possessions for the Hoosiers. However, those two baskets in the first three minutes were the only points he could muster for the entire game. Davis added three rebounds during his 13 minutes on the floor.
Green proceeded to take the torch and ignite the offense in the first half.
Following a missed layup on the first possession, he hit three straight shots, including a pull-up 3-pointer. An individual 9-2 scoring run for Green highlighted a nearly eight-minute stretch when he scored 13 points before heading back to the bench in favor of junior guard Al Durham.
By adding another successful shot beyond the arc, Green carried the team to a 28-25 first-half lead with 16 points on 6-10 shooting. Indiana scored just six points in the paint during the opening period as the team combined with Wisconsin to shoot 11-22 from deep.
Wisconsin forwards Nate Reuvers, Micah Potter and Aleem Ford crowded the paint and Green took advantage. He was 3-for-5 from the 3-point line in the first half.
“Things around the basket were made difficult by their size, their bigs dropping,” Indiana head coach Archie Miller said. “You have to make some jumpshots against them, which Devonte did early in the game.”
But Green needed help. He said he landed on a defender's foot and suffered a left ankle injury in the first half and assured he would be fine. The adrenaline rush of his 16 points prevented the soreness from affecting him, but that wasn’t the case in the second.
Green closed the game shooting 0-7 from the field, but still added 11 minutes to his playing time. Freshman forward Trayce Jackson-Davis — Indiana’s leading scorer on the season — didn’t make a shot until five minutes passed in the second half. Jackson-Davis ended the game with just six points to go along with eight rebounds.
Durham picked up the slack offensively and was the team’s leading scorer in the second half. He tallied nine points in the game, all coming after halftime. The junior captain ended a six-minute scoring drought at the end of the game by hitting a 3-pointer on the right wing.
The shot brought the Hoosiers within two points of the Badgers with 55 seconds remaining.
They resorted to deep shot attempts because the team was 7-22 on layup opportunities. No player outside of Green finished in double figures as a result.
“We have to be able to convert on them,” Durham said. “I feel like we had a good couple shots that we should have made and we can make.”Wisconsin junior guard Brad Davidson sealed
Sitting at 19 wins during the regular season, Indiana will likely need to come away with a Big Ten Tournament victory to cement a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Earning a bid on Selection Sunday would mark the first time Green or Davis would have the opportunity in their four-year careers.
While the Hoosiers’ senior sendoff didn’t result in an upset victory, there still lies tournament hopes. Miller said Indiana’s body of work speaks for itself.
“I think there's always room for improvement, so we can always get better,” Green said. “But definitely finished better than we started and gradually got better over the season.”
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