SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Indianapolis pulled away from Drury midway through the second half to pick up an 89-76 win at the O’Reilly Family Event Center in Springfield on Saturday.
The Panthers trailed by four, 36-32, at halftime, and had the game even at 42-42 early in the second half until the Greyhounds went on an 8-0 run to stay in front for good. Indianapolis (12-2, 4-2) put up 53 points after the intermission and held off Drury down the stretch.
Jesse Bingham scored a team-high 23 points for the Greyhounds going 10 for 19 from the field. Bruno Williams added 22 points and Kendrick Tchoua contributed 17.
“Their physicality was the difference,” said Drury head coach Chris Foster. “We gave up 53 in the second half and they only had eight assists, so it was them either throwing the ball into the post or their ability to drive.”
Drury (5-9, 1-5) stayed in the game most of the day thanks to three-point shooting as the Panthers went 13 for 29 behind the arc.
Freshman Logan Applegate, who had 31 points two nights earlier against McKendree, put on another strong scoring display putting in 24 points and was 4 for 7 from the three-point line and 7 of 15 overall from the field. Brock Wakefield added 11 points and six assists for the Panthers.
“We did some good things offensively,” noted Foster. “We had 20 assists, we made 13 three’s and we shot a good percentage. Our turnover numbers were also way down from what they’ve been. But the difference was their physicality. We probably haven’t seen a team that big and physical since our exhibition against Creighton, but we’ve got to keep getting better and continue to mature.”
The Panthers shot 46 percent going 26 for 56 in the game and only committed nine turnovers. Indianapolis, though, connected on 55 percent of their shots, going 29 for 53 and they were 26 for 33 from the free throw line. Drury shot 18 free throws and made 11.
The Panthers return to action on Thursday when they travel to Lewis for a 7:30 pm game in Romeoville, Illinois.
