Indiana's Bench Showed Its Value When The Hoosiers Needed It Most Against Western Kentucky

Darian DeVries spent much of the offseason attempting to build an Indiana basketball roster with enough depth to compete in the Big Ten.

On Sunday, that depth might have saved the Hoosiers from an exhibition loss.

With Indiana trailing Western Kentucky by six points and less than nine minutes remaining, DeVries turned to five reserves, including three freshmen, in search of a spark.

He got considerably more than that.

The group of Bryce Lindsay, Sam Alexis, Vaughn Karvala, Trevor Manhertz and Pricne-Alexander Moody outscored Western Kentucky 28-17 over the final 8:29, lifting Indiana to a 79-74 win in its preseason finale.

But perhaps more telling than the comeback itself was DeVries' decision to leave that group on the floor until the final buzzer. For a team still figuring out its rotation, Sunday's finish offered an encouraging glimpse of what Indiana's depth could mean this season.

DeVries planned to give his reserves meaningful minutes against Western Kentucky. He just didn't anticipate needing them to rescue the Hoosiers.

Indiana's starters struggled to match the Hilltoppers' physicality and intensity for much of the afternoon, allowing Western Kentucky to build an 11-point second-half lead.

But the game changed when DeVries went to his bench.

"The game really flipped with their energy when they came in," DeVries said after the game. "They gave us a spark and simply played harder."

Manhertz knocked down a 3-pointer shortly after entering, while Moody connected from the corner to tie the game late in the second half.

Karvala delivered one of the game's biggest plays, grabbing an offensive rebound and converting the putback to extend Indiana's lead to four with 47 seconds remaining.

Meanwhile, Lindsay continued his impressive preseason with a team-high 20 points, and Alexis added 15 on 6-of-7 shooting.

The Hoosiers shot 8-of-13 from the floor over the final 8:29 while holding Western Kentucky to 4-of-12. Their ball movement improved, defensive intensity increased, and the 50-50 balls that had eluded them earlier began going their way.

It wasn't necessarily the lineup anyone expected to finish a close game. But it was the one that earned the opportunity.

It's one thing to have talented players coming off the bench. It's another to trust them with the game on the line.

Sunday provided DeVries with reason to believe he has both.

"We wanted to get those guys in, but our goal was to win the game from the jump," DeVries said. "We wanted to win the game, and we weren't getting it done."

DeVries could have returned to his starters once Indiana regained momentum. Instead, he stuck with the five players who had changed the game.

That decision speaks to the kind of flexibility Indiana could have this season.

The Hoosiers won't necessarily rely on three freshmen to close games once Big Ten play begins, but Karvala, Moody, and Manhertz showed they're capable of contributing when the stakes rise.

And with Lindsay emerging as a reliable scoring option alongside Alexis' veteran presence in the frontcourt, DeVries has several alternatives when his starting group struggles.

With the Nov. 1 season opener against Eastern Illinois approaching, DeVries can take something valuable from the experience.

His starters won't have their best stuff every night. And as Sunday demonstrated, they might not always need to.

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