IU basketball continues exhibition play against North Carolina today at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Here’s how to watch the Hoosiers take on the Tar Heels at 5 p.m. ET, along with three things to watch for in the exhibition matchup:
How to watch IU-North Carolina exhibition
Sunday’s exhibition will stream exclusively on B1G+, the Big Ten’s streaming platform. In addition to the UNC exhibition, IU’s exhibition against Western Kentucky on Sunday, October 25 will be on B1G+. Three regular-season games will also be on B1G+: Eastern Illinois (Monday, November 2), Jacksonville (Tuesday, November 24) and Farleigh Dickinson (Monday, December 22).
There are several options to watch Sunday’s exhibition:
• Sunday’s game against UNC only: $8.99
• Monthly subscription: $12.99 (would need for three months to cover both exhibitions and three regular season games)
• Annual subscription: Regularly $89.99 plus tax, but available for 50% off with promo code B1GPLUS50 at checkout. This covers all B1G+ content for the next 12 months.
• Season pass: $34.99 for three months, saves 10% versus paying monthly and does not auto-renew.
• Winter pass: $44.99 for six months, saves 40% versus paying monthly and does not auto-renew.
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Will Indiana’s rebounding hold up against North Carolina?
One of the most encouraging developments in IU’s 96-68 exhibition win against Butler was rebounding.
The Hoosiers dominated the Bulldogs on the glass, pulling down 17 offensive rebounds for an offensive rebounding percentage of 40.
Indiana outscored Butler 25-5 in second-chance points, a significant reason for the comfortable 28-point win at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
North Carolina poses a bigger challenge on the glass, as the Tar Heels, under first-year coach Mike Malone, dominated USC on the boards in an October 9 exhibition in Greensboro.
The Hoosiers want to make generating second-chance points and closing down defensive possessions by limiting second-chance opportunities part of their identity.
“Like we’ve talked about a lot, our rebounding is a priority for us,” IU coach Darian DeVries said Wednesday. “We built the roster around it. We prioritized it. And to see it show up against Butler, I thought, was really encouraging. Our offensive rebound rate was close to 40 percent.
“We were in the, like 23 percent, I believe, last year as a whole, somewhere in that area. So that was a huge improvement. I think we rebounded at like a 83.7 percent defensively, right? Again, it’s just one game, but that was something that we wanted to see on that stat sheet after the game.”
Indiana needs Markus Burton on the floor for more than 15 minutes
Markus Burton scored 11 of Indiana’s first 13 points in last Sunday’s exhibition win against Butler.
But foul trouble limited his impact. The Notre Dame transfer finished tied for a team-high with 13 points but played just 15 minutes and finished the game with four fouls
The Hoosiers were +18 with Burton on the court.
With limited minutes, Burton never got into the flow of the game. His primary impact came in the opening minutes and he had only one assist.
As with most opponents this season, Burton will have to defend bigger guards without fouling against North Carolina today.
The Tar Heels started 6-foot-3 guard Terrence Brown, 6-foot-5 guard Matt Able and 6-foot-9 wing Neo Avdalas in their exhibition opener.
One of IU’s key storylines this season will be Burton’s play and how he balances scoring and distributing from the point guard position.
“There was times even in our Peru trip that we felt like he was almost passing too much and we wanted him to make sure that he continues to be a scorer, too,” DeVries said. “Because he’s that dynamic of a scorer and he demands that much attention. That’s where all of his assists are going to come from. And we’ve seen that kind of throughout the fall here in our five-on-five stuff.”
An opportunity for more experimentation as well as true game prep
You can expect the Indiana-North Carolina exhibition game to be played with regular-season intensity.
That’s been the case with all of IU’s recent exhibition games against high-major opponents, including Baylor last season at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and last week’s exhibition against Butler.
It helps a new team test itself against an opponent with legitimate size and athleticism rather than an exhibition against an overmatched opponent where you can get away with bad habits.
But with two coaches trying to figure out rotations in a game where the outcome ultimately means nothing, the approach, at least from the IU side, is to get a look at different lineups and combinations while also mixing in traditional game-day prep.
“We’ll use that game (against USC) and we’ll prepare the scout just to kind of get them all through it just so they get a normal game day prep as we get closer to the season,” DeVries explained. “I just want them to have that kind of familiarity with how we do things.
“But overall, there’ll be a lot more about us and trying some things both offensively and defensively throughout the team, different lineups, those type of things that you just want to get a look at. So from that standpoint, we won’t maybe overdo it. It’s only one game anyway, but we do want them to have at least an idea of like, hey, here’s some of their tendencies from the one game. Here’s some things we want to really try to take away. But overall, we still want to make sure we get what we want to get out of it and see some different things from our side of things.”
