LOS ANGELES — Indiana basketball forward Tucker DeVries had high hopes for this season as he put a series of shoulder injuries in the rear-view mirror, but things haven’t exactly gone to plan for the fifth-year senior.
He finished an 81-75 loss to USC on Tuesday with five points on 1 of 9 shooting to remain stuck in a shooting slump the likes of which he’s never experienced. This was only the third time in 127 career games he only accounted for a single made field goal.
“I think the biggest thing for everybody that’s a good shooter when you go through something you haven’t gone through before, it’s just to stay confident,” Indiana coach Darian DeVries said. “Trust your work. You’ve done it your whole life, just continue to believe in that.”
Tucker has played for his father his entire career, from twice winning Missouri Valley Conference Play of the Year at Drake to an injury-filled season at West Virginia. They’ve experienced plenty of highs and lows, but this is new territory for Tucker.
After DeVries missed his first two attempts from deep at the Galen Center, he didn’t attempt another shot of any kind for 14-plus minutes. He channeled much of his efforts into setting up his teammates for long stretches of the game.
“Sometimes that’s hard, when you are in a slump to continue to find it,” Darian said. “He’s been trying to really, he’s not shooting as well, to facilitate and do some other things while he’s trying to work through that.”
Tucker is averaging 12.3 points over IU’s last 15 games while shooting 35.9% from the field and 28.6% (34 of 119) from 3-point range. For the first time in his career, he’s gone three straight games without reaching double-digits.
The only other time Tucker has come close to struggling like this was at the very start of the 2021-22 season when he was a true freshman at Drake and still adjusting to the college game.
For his career, he’s shot 36.1% from 3-point range while averaging 6.9 attempts per game.
“It’s just one of those things that happens that he hasn’t experienced before,” DeVries said. “He’ll get it going, just got to stay still confident and continue to work and believe in himself. His teammates all do, the coaches all do, it will come.”
Lamar Wilkerson echoed those comments as someone who is well aware of what Tucker is experiencing. Wilkerson is one of the top 3-point shooters in the country this season, but wasn’t immune to a brief slump.
After shooting 25% from long range over a six-game stretch early in the season, he made 10 3-pointers to set IU’s single-game record in a 113-72 win over Penn State.
“Tucker is a great player,” Wilkerson said. “All he’s got to do is get out of his head, and keep playing. Once he finds his groove, man, it will be alright. I got the ultimate faith in Tucker. He’s been doing it a long time. We just stay encouraging of each other and he’ll figure it out.”
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana basketball’s Tucker DeVries facing biggest shooting slump of his career
Reporting by Michael Niziolek, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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