6-Banner Sunday: IU basketball moves to 3-0 with wins against EIU and South Carolina

  • Nov 17, 2024 7:25 am
 

Welcome to another edition of 6-Banner Sunday, a joint production between The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall, where we highlight the five most essential IU basketball stories of the past week, plus take a look at how the other IU sports programs are doing.

IU basketball continued its strong start to the season with two victories. During its bye week, football made news with an extension for its head coach.

In addition, readers will find information about Indiana’s latest recruit officially joining the fold and weekly shows. As usual, we will conclude with a look at other Hoosier sports, led by the continued struggles of women’s basketball.

Here is what is in this week’s edition:

• Hoosiers beat South Carolina in a comfortable 16-point win
• Indiana uses a huge second half to pull away from Eastern Illinois
• Football extends Curt Cignetti with a record contract
• Sisley signs National Letter of Intent
• Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows
• Hoosier Roundup

IU men’s basketball will play six games this season on Peacock and the women will play five contests on Peacock, making the streaming service a must-have for IU basketball fans. Sign up for Peacock using Inside the Hall’s link to help support the site and also enjoy Big Ten hoops all season long! In total, over 70 men’s and women’s games featuring Big Ten teams will air on Peacock this season (The link is an Inside the Hall affiliate link, so a commission will be paid to ITH if you click and subscribe to Peacock.)

Banner #1 – Hoosiers beat South Carolina in a comfortable 16-point win

IU passed their first big test with flying colors on Saturday to improve to 3-0. With former Hoosiers Kel’el Ware and Thomas Bryant in the crowd (The Miami Heat had an off day before playing the Pacers just up the road on Sunday), as they continue their NBA careers, Indiana impressed on the Assembly Hall court.

Myles Rice led Indiana in his breakout game and Mackenzie Mgbako continued his strong play as IU was in charge from start to finish. The final was 87-71 as the Hoosiers put away power-five squad South Carolina by being nearly perfect at the free-throw line.

Afterward, IU coach Mike Woodson spoke, Inside the Hall had a Photo Gallery, Ryan Corazza wrote a Minute After, and Matt Press penned a column about the team’s backcourt depth.

Banner #2 – Indiana uses a huge second half to pull away from Eastern Illinois

The Hoosiers started slowly against Eastern Illinois and trailed at halftime last Sunday. However, they looked like a different team in the second half and outscored the Panthers 54-18 in the final 20 minutes. As a result, they pulled away for an easy 90-55 win. Mgbako had another strong afternoon and led four double-figure scorers with 18 points.

Afterward, Woodson spoke, Inside the Hall had a Photo Gallery, Corazza wrote a Minute After and Film Session, and Alex Bozich provided Five Takeaways and Numbers That Stand Out from IU’s first two games.

Banner #3 – Football extends Curt Cignetti with a record contract

While IU football had a bye week, they still made major news. The architect of the Hoosiers’ first 10-0 start and double-digit win season in program history will stay in Bloomington.

On Saturday, head coach Curt Cignetti inked an extension through 2032 that will pay him $8 million annually. This roughly doubles his current salary and provides him with additional resources.

With Cignetti at the helm, Indiana is in the top 5 of the college football playoff rankings. They appear headed to that tournament to play for a national championship as long as they beat Purdue in their season finale and stay competitive with Ohio State. This success has led to multiple players being on postseason watch lists.

Banner #4 – Sisley signs National Letter of Intent

While IU missed out on several top recruits, it did land a big one. Top-100 player Trent Sisley, who played most of his high school career in southern Indiana, officially signed his letter of intent this week.

Sisley is ranked between 71 and 92 nationally from the three major recruiting services and is a four-star prospect. The Hoosiers will likely need to add additional players with spring signees either from high school or in the transfer portal. However, Sisley gives the team a contributor for future seasons and is now officially in the fold.

Banner #5 – Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows

Podcast on the Brink was recorded this week. It featured a discussion with Inside the Hall’s own Will Foley.

The Back Home Network was on-air multiple times this week. Multiple Crimson Cast episodes, Doing The Work, Dribble Drive, and Assembly Call Postgame all had episodes in the last few days.

Banner #6 – Hoosier Roundup

• Women’s Basketball continued its early season struggles with a loss at Butler. However, they signed two highly-ranked players for 2025.

• Volleyball battled an elite USC team toe-to-toe but came up short before falling to Iowa and Nebraska. They also signed the highest-ranked recruit in program history as part of their next class and Camryn Haworth set an assist record.

• Wrestling beat Central Michigan and signed five athletes.

• Cross Country competed at the Great Lakes Regional Championship.

• Men’s tennis competed at the Big Ten Individual Championships and signed a player.

• Women’s tennis signed two players for 2025.

• Softball inked three players for 2025.

• Finally, IU held an NIL day for athletes across the department.

Thanks for your continued support of The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall. We’ll be back next weekend with a new roundup.

Now go enjoy yourself a 6-banner Sunday.

Aaron (Ari) Shifron
Assembly Call Contributor

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