SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – As another basket had dropped in front of his bench, Indiana coach Darian DeVries scratched his head in bewilderment.
His team suddenly found itself down 44-21 a few minutes into the second quarter.
It was a low point for Indiana. Playing in its first of two games against Serbian professional team Mega Superbet, there was no answer for the length. DeVries had already taken his two allotted timeouts for the half in the first quarter with no luck.
“I was more worried, just like, how we were down 44 to 21,” DeVries said. “I just thought we were getting out-toughed a little bit and some things at both ends of the floor.”
Tough shots kept falling on one end, while the other looked like it had a lid on the rim. At Roberto Clemente Coliseum on Saturday night, Mega Superbet looked like a team that had experience playing together; Indiana looked disjointed.
Despite the lopsided score at the time, Indiana’s intensity never faltered. There was never a moment when the Indiana bench looked defeated. Frustration mounted, but there was still hope that a turnaround was looming.
Suddenly, Indiana flipped the switch.
Senior forward Reed Bailey went on a 6-0 run of his own to start the comeback. However, that wasn’t where the Hoosiers ended their quest. A 14-4 run to end the first half gave Indiana momentum into the locker room despite trailing 48-35.
“I love the fact that we really fought hard to climb back into the game,” DeVries said. “We went up in the locker room at halftime with a much more manageable situation than being down 24.”
With momentum and fresh legs, Indiana came out of the halftime locker room on fire. The Hoosiers started the half on a 14-1 run to tie the game at 49 and never looked back.
Indiana nearly doubled its scoring from the first half in the third quarter, outscoring Mega Superbet 32-11 to seize the lead for good.
During this span, there were very few times when any member of the Indiana bench was sitting. At one point, every person on the bench – players, coaches, and staff – stood for every defensive possession.
All told, Indiana went on a jaw-dropping 70-19 run to turn a 23-point deficit into a 93-71 victory.
Though some individuals had…