Darren Harris’ Career Night Propels the Hoosiers Past Bellarmine

Darren Harris spent his first two collegiate seasons riding the bench at Duke. He spent these years playing less than 10 minutes per game, but he was developing as a player and ready to take a larger role in his third year. He got the offer from Indiana and head coach Darian DeVries in the portal and made the change.

“This is a brand new situation,” Harris said. “New arena, new team, new coach, new city, new school… new role. Just being more comfortable and getting used to playing heavy minutes again”.

At Duke, he set his career high of 16 points at Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. There must be something about the Hoosier State, as he set his new career high of 23 points for Indiana as they conquered the Bellarmine Knights.

In game one of the season against Eastern Illinois, Harris had seven points, but he struggled from the field, shooting only 1-for-7 in his attempts. In this game, Harris got rolling immediately.

“It was just a matter of time,” said DeVries postgame. “It was great to see him have a breakout game. He can get 10 threes up and then connect on five of them”.

On Indiana’s first possession of the game, Jaeden Mustaf made the pass to find an open Harris behind the arc. Harris shot it with confidence and started the game the correct way this time.

Harris wouldn’t be shy to put up shots, as he shot his third three-point attempt of the day with 17:41 left in the first half. He was fouled on this attempt, which put him on the line where he went 2-for-3 from the charity stripe.

Within the next 30 seconds, Harris shot another three-pointer, this one missing, but it was a sign of the night Harris was about to have.

Harris spent some time on the bench, but when he came back in, he drilled another three-point shot. He had his quietest stretch of the night, but then made himself heard with 4:27 left in the first half. He missed a three-pointer, which led to an offensive board by Aiden Sherrell. Sherrell then kicked it out to Bryce Lindsay, who missed a three, but this time Harris was there to clean up the shot. He grabbed the ball and put it back in while getting fouled. Harris then completed the and-one and brought Indiana’s lead to 15.

Riding that momentum, Harris drilled a three on IU’s next possession. Harris would sit the rest of the half, but he ended with 15 points in half one.

Harris went into the locker room two points shy of setting that new career high, and he wasted no time in getting it.

Samet Yigitoglu kicked it out to Harris on the wing, where Harris hit a triple that he won’t forget.

“It starts with my teammates setting me up,” Harris said postgame.

The game was far from over for the junior forward, though, as he struck again from behind the arc with 16:42 to play in the game. He missed a three-pointer, but then he had his second opportunity from the same spot on that corner, and he didn’t look back.

It is a great amount of confidence that he has in his shot, and the green light that DeVries gives him allows for this.

“Keeping confidence in me. I didn’t shoot well the last couple of games,” Harris said. “I’ve just been looking at film… just to see what’s natural. And for me… making my follow-through look stronger.

Harris ended up shooting it 6-for-11 from the field (5-for-10 from three). A significant step up from his 1-for-7 just three days ago.

This was only game two for Indiana, and with that, only game two for Harris in the cream and crimson. There is so much potential for this Indiana roster, and Harris is a key piece of that. The team and the staff have endless confidence in him to succeed.