IU basketball crushes the Virgin Islands to conclude group-stage play in FISU America Games

IU basketball, representing the United States, concluded group-stage play on Thursday evening with an easy 120-63 win against the Virgin Islands in the FISU America Games in Lima, Peru.

The win clinched Group B for Indiana, which will now move to elimination play this weekend. Indiana beat Peru 115-36 in its opener on Tuesday night.

Indiana switched up its starting lineup on Thursday, opting to go with Markus Burton, Darren Harris, Jaeden Mustaf, Trevor Manhertz and Aiden Sherrell.

On Tuesday, the Hoosiers started Burton, Harris, Bryce Lindsay, Trent Sisley and Sherrell.

After a slow start, IU quickly pulled away thanks to strong perimeter shooting. Lindsay and Vaughn Karvala came off the bench in the first quarter and combined to score 17 of the team’s 30 first-quarter points.

Lindsay led all scorers in the first period with nine points while Karvala added eight. Lindsay made three 3-pointers and Karvala made a pair.

IU led 30-20 after 10 minutes.

The second quarter brought more production from Karvala, who had 11 points in the frame, including a trio of 3-pointers.

Sherrell also came alive, scoring eight of his 10 first-half points in the quarter. Sam Alexis added six points in the quarter and had 10 points in the first half.

The Hoosiers led 69-39 at halftime and made 10 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.

IU was never seriously challenged in the second half, leading 98-52 after three quarters. Markus Burton led the Hoosiers with seven third-quarter points.

In the fourth quarter, IU played its reserves, including several walk-ons en route to its second straight blowout win.

Karvala led IU with 32 points while Sherrell and Alexis each added 15. Unofficially, Karvala was 7-for-10 on 3-pointers.

The Hoosiers will play on Saturday 3 p.m. ET against Chile. A win on Saturday would advance them to the finals on Monday at 4 p.m. ET against the winner of Argentina and the Virgin Islands.

The United States and Argentina are heavy favorites to advance to the final.

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Unofficial scoring totals:

Vaughn Karvala – 32
Aiden Sherrell – 15
Sam Alexis – 15
Prince-Alexander Moody – 14
Markus Burton – 11
Bryce Lindsay – 9
Trent Sisley – 8
Jaeden Mustaf – 8
Darren Harris – 4
Trevor Manhertz – 2
Ian Stephens – 2

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

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