In his first seven games as the head coach at Indiana, Darian DeVries has guided his team to seven consecutive wins and a Top 25 ranking.”I’m not really sure if we’re ahead of schedule, behind schedule,” DeVries said. “For us, it’s just about, ‘How do we keep getting better?’ That’s all we’re really consumed with.”The next chapter in DeVries’ inaugural season with the Hoosiers will start when No. 22 Indiana (7-0) tips off against Minnesota (4-4) on Wednesday evening in Minneapolis. The contest is the Big Ten Conference opener for both programs.The game will mark the Big Ten debut for both DeVries and Minnesota coach Niko Medved.Indiana is coming off a 100-56 home win over Bethune-Cookman on Saturday afternoon. It wrapped a flawless start to the nonconference schedule for the Hoosiers, whose early highlights include a 23-point win over Marquette in Chicago and a seven-point victory over visiting Kansas State.Tucker DeVries, the coach’s son, leads Indiana in scoring at 17.9 points per game on 46.1% shooting from the field. Lamar Wilkerson is averaging 16.7 points per game, and Tayton Conerway rounds out the top three scorers with 11.9 points per game to go along with a team-high 5.3 assists per contest.Conerway is far from the only player on the team who has shown a willingness to distribute the ball. Indiana is averaging 20.9 assists per game as a team.”The guys, they’re just unselfish,” Darian DeVries said. “They really have a good understanding of what we’re trying to do on offense, and they really move it and share it.”As Indiana looks to stay hot, Minnesota is hoping to snap a cold streak as it returns home.The Golden Gophers are coming off three straight losses on a road trip. They fell short 77-65 against San Francisco in Sioux Falls, S.D., then lost 72-68 to Stanford and lost 86-75 to Santa Clara, both in Palm Desert, Calif.Injuries also have played a role in Minnesota’s slump. The Golden Gophers were limited to a rotation of seven players in their most recent game, the setback to Santa Clara on Friday.
