6-Banner Sunday: IU basketball crushes Oregon for eighth Big Ten win
- Staff
- 1h ago
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 sports stories of the past week. 6-Banner Sunday is written by Ari Shifron.
IU got the victory it needed this week in basketball to remain on track for a spot in the NCAA tournament. The Hoosiers beat Oregon behind Lamar Wilkerson’s huge game.
Additionally, we will examine Bracketology, a non-conference opponent for next season was revealed and the women’s basketball team got a victory against rival Purdue. As usual, we will conclude with a look at the weekly shows and the rest of the Indiana sports in action, which was led by a couple of coaching updates for football.
Here is what is in this week’s edition:
• Hoosiers dominate Oregon behind big night from Lamar Wilkerson
• Bracketology updates
• IU to host Bellarmine next fall
• Women’s basketball beats rival Purdue
• Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows
• Hoosier Roundup
Banner #1 – Hoosiers dominate Oregon behind big night from Lamar Wilkerson
IU basketball picked up a big victory over Oregon on Monday to remain on track for the NCAA tournament (more below). In a contest that was a must-win to avoid a bad loss, the Hoosiers won by pulling away with red-hot offense.
Indiana controlled this game comfortably for most of the final 20 minutes. Led by 82 percent shooting in the second half and a huge night from Big Ten player of the week Lamar Wilkerson, IU won easily 92-74.
Wilkerson’s 41 points led four Hoosiers in double figures. This performance came on a night when the 1975-1976 undefeated national championship team was honored, which included an announcement that a statue would be built to honor legendary coach Bob Knight.
Afterwards, IU coach Darian DeVries spoke, Inside the Hall had a photo gallery, Ryan Corazza wrote The Minute After and Film Session, Josh Pos penned Five Takeaways and Quinn Richards put together a column about Wilkerson.
Indiana returns to action today with a huge challenge. They head to Champaign to take on an elite Illinois squad at 1 p.m. ET on CBS.
Banner #2 – Bracketology updates
At 17-8 overall and 8-6 in the Big Ten, the Hoosiers are almost certainly on the right side of the NCAA tournament bubble following their recent hot streak. With winning five out of six, IU now has two quad one wins and a solid NET in the low 30’s.
These metrics are significantly improved over previous versions of this squad, driven by large margins of victory over struggling teams. They have also kept their defeats to relatively low amounts outside of a couple of exceptions, which was also an issue in the past.
Looking at Bracketology, Indiana appears relatively safe in the field at the moment. They can likely shore up a spot by simply defeating the two struggling oppositions coming into Assembly Hall over the next few weeks. However, to avoid Dayton and the “First Four,” an additional victory would be helpful, as it would bring them to 20 overall on the season and a winning record in conference play.
Inside the Hall and Assembly Call’s own Bracketologist, Andy Bottoms, projected the Hoosiers as a 10 seed earlier in the week. Most other projections had Indiana around the 9-10 line as well.
Banner #3 – IU to host Bellarmine next fall
While this season still has a long way to go, another opponent for the 2026-27 non-conference schedule was learned for next fall. Previously, the only known piece was the signature matchup with Kentucky at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Now, an early-season contest on Nov. 5 against Bellarmine was reported by Jon Rothstein this week. The Hoosiers and Knights have never played outside of an exhibition game in 2015-2016 before Bellarmine moved up to Division I and the school is based in Louisville.
Banner #4 – Women’s basketball beats rival Purdue
The women’s extreme struggles in this Big Ten season once again took a back seat this week. After going winless all of January, the squad won its third straight game by beating rival Purdue 74-59 at home last Sunday.
This victory was critical, as only the top 15 make the conference tournament, and the win put them above that cutline. It is also vital to beat struggling Rutgers and Penn State late in the season, as it would keep the Hoosiers above .500 overall and likely lock a Big Ten tournament spot. This would also make them eligible for the second-tier WNIT or WBIT to participate in some form of postseason play.
Indiana faces a very tall task against UCLA today. This was after giving USC all they could handle on Thursday despite missing leading scorer and Big Ten player of the week Shay Ciezki. Freshman Maya Makalusky showed why she is likely the program’s future star as she put up 29 points in the contest.
Banner #5 – Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows
Podcast on the Brink returned this week. On it, Alex Bozich was joined by Delphi Bracketology’s Brian Tonsoni to discuss IU’s tournament resume.
Also, The Back Home Network has many shows. As a result, it was on air many times this week with programming.
Banner #6 – Hoosier Roundup
• Football brought back Tino Sunseri to be on the coaching staff while defensive coordinator Brian Haines was honored as the nation’s top assistant, as high expectations continue for next season.
• Softball defeated Pacific, Nevada and Portland State, while falling to Arizona State.
• Women’s tennis beat Virginia Tech and Bellarmine to remain perfect to open their year.
• Water polo defeated Mercyhurst and Mount St. Mary’s.
• Baseball was swept in its season opening series against an elite North Carolina squad. Also, three players were honored by the Big Ten this preseason.
• Track and field competed at the Music City Challenge and Valentine Invitational.
• Women’s soccer announced its spring exhibition schedule.
• Swimming and diving coach Ray Looze was elected to the ISCA Hall of Fame.
Now go enjoy yourself a 6-Banner Sunday.
Aaron (Ari) Shifron
Assembly Call Contributor
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