6-Banner Sunday: IU improves to 7-2 with wins against Sam Houston State and Miami (OH)
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 got back on track this week. However, it was not against the strongest of competition. These easy wins will be critical (more below) to earn a spot in postseason play and as they look to improve with Big Ten play opening this week.
Besides this, readers will find info about women’s basketball wins and weekly shows. We will, as usual, conclude with a look at other Hoosier sports led by football almost certainly being selected to the College Football Playoff today.
Here is what is in this week’s edition:
• Hoosiers dominate Sam Houston State
• IU pulls away from Miami (OH)
• Women’s basketball beats Maine, Southern Indiana and Penn State
• Mike Woodson radio show recap
• 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 dominate Sam Houston State
After the struggles in the Bahamas, IU mostly dominated from start to finish against Sam Houston State in a 97-71 win. While this victory was expected, blowing out lower-end squads like the Bearkats can make all the difference come March Madness.
The NCAA’s NET metric takes the margin of victory strongly into account and winning big helps a lot. In 2023-2024, all but one of Indiana’s pre-conference victories were close. As a result, the Hoosiers finished 98 in this most important statistic and were not close to postseason play despite a 10-10 conference record.
Fast forward to 2024-2025 and the margins of victory are far more comfortable so far against this same level of talent. Despite all their problems, even in Atlantis, they came close to the expected score outside of the Louisville contest. As a result, their NET sits somewhat better in the low 60s and within range of a postseason berth with a similar league season. However, to get a good seed, they need to play better and pick up signature wins.
For the Sam Houston State game specifically, IU once again went as Myles Rice did, as he led all scorers with 19 points. Three others reached double figures, including Luke Goode with 18 points and five 3-pointers as he got his shot on track.
Afterward, IU coach Mike Woodson spoke, Inside the Hall had a photo gallery, Ryan Corazza wrote a Minute After and Film Session, Alex Bozich put together Five Takeaways, and Kevin Vera penned a column about the efficient performance.
Banner #2 – IU pulls away from Miami (OH)
The Hoosiers struggled early in this one against the RedHawks. However, they once again pulled away late for a comfortable 76-57 win to meet the expected margin of victory. Malik Reneau had a big night leading four double-figure scorers with 19 points. Rice added 17 points, while Oumar Ballo had a double-double with 14 points and 18 rebounds.
The team now sits at 7-2 overall. They open Big Ten play tomorrow in Bloomington against struggling Minnesota at 6:30 pm on BTN.
Afterward, Woodson spoke, Inside the Hall had a photo gallery, Corazza wrote a Minute After, Bozich put together Five Takeaways, and Matt Press penned a column about the team’s inconsistencies.
Banner #3 – Women’s basketball beats Maine, Southern Indiana and Penn State
The women had a perfect week despite still playing to their level of competition. They dominated a struggling Maine squad but were unexpectedly taken to the wire by in-state rival Southern Indiana. However, their Big Ten opener at Penn State was one of their best performances of the season in a 75-60 win. Karoline Striplin had a perfect day from the field, leading all scorers with 27 points. Yarden Garzon added 22 points with several big fourth-quarter 3-pointers as the Hoosiers pulled away.
IU is now 7-3 overall and 1-0 in the league. While the NCAA Tournament is a possibility, the combination of good wins and bad losses has their NET in the 40s. This number makes a postseason berth within reach, but a solid conference season will improve it.
Banner #4 – Mike Woodson radio show recap
Woodson’s radio show returned last Monday. It was the third episode of the season as he discussed IU’s rough performance in the Bahamas.
Banner #5 – Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows
Podcast on the Brink was recorded this week. It featured Inside the Hall’s own Corazza discussing Indiana’s start to the season.
The Back Home Network was on-air multiple times this week. Assembly Call Postgame, Bison Chat, Crimson Cast, Doing The Work, Dribble Drive and Xs and Joes all had episodes.
Banner #6 – Hoosier Roundup
• Football sat ninth in the College Football Playoff Rankings last week. They will almost certainly be selected to the 12-team field today after a program-best 11-1 season. The Hoosiers also had multiple players and coaches awarded both in the conference and nationally including Curt Cignetti being named Big Ten coach of the year. They also signed their 2025 recruiting class.
• Former baseball player Bart Kaufman who their stadium is named after, passed away last week.
• Volleyball had two players earn All-Conference awards.
• Swimming and diving beat Cincinnati.
• Wrestling fell to Illinois.
• Field Hockey had two athletes awarded All-Region.
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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