Thoughts on a 76-58 exhibition win against North Carolina:
One must be careful drawing too many (or really, any) meaningful conclusions from an exhibition game in mid-October.
Still, what Indiana did tonight put some reality to the idea of what this team looked like on paper once the spring portal season wrapped. There’s more versatility. More balance, depth and threats to drive. More size. Better rim protection and a larger emphasis on rebounding the basketball on the offensive end.
As Markus Burton picked up two quick fouls, Bryce Lindsay stepped into the game and ran the show for the Hoosiers with ease. Lindsay did the majority of his damage as a scorer, dropping 18 first-half points in 15 minutes of action. Lindsay did a bit of everything, scoring from deep (2-of-5), getting to the line (6-of-6) and hitting in the mid-range. And when Burton got more run in the second half, he found Lindsay’s hot hand, once assisting him in the right corner for a long two and again for a transition 3-pointer. Lindsay finished with a game-high 26 points in 28 minutes, going 8-of-14 overall, 4-of-9 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 from the line.
The Hoosiers didn’t have the most efficient offensive performance (43% eFG), but made 17-of-22 from the line and gave themselves a number of extra opportunities.
Because just as it did against Butler, Indiana dominated on the offensive glass. The Hoosiers rebounded nearly half their misses (49%) to North Carolina’s 23 percent. It led to a 17-7 advantage in second-chance points. On a number of occasions, Indiana’s bigs cleaned up after a perimeter player’s driving attempts didn’t drop. Aiden Sherrell got two second-chance buckets after Jaeden Mustaf and Trevor Manhertz lay-up misses. Sam Alexis rebounded a Burton miss on a drive, then rebounded his own miss and got fouled, making 1-of-2 at the line. He did it again later on another Burton miss, this time making a tip-in. Samet Yigitoglu didn’t make a basket tonight, but his two points came on second-chance free throws. He led the team with 11 rebounds, five of which were offensive. Sherrell wasn’t far behind with 10 boards.
Indiana also looked strong defensively. It held the Tar Heels to just .78 points per possession for the game. After having to turn it up on defense last time out against Butler, the Hoosiers stayed steady on the defensive end for the majority of the contest. They defended well without fouling. They racked up five blocks and eight steals, winning the points off turnovers battle 19-11. Often a strong defensive stop bled into a sharp offensive possession and a score.
After heading into halftime up 12 points (41-29), Indiana did allow the Tar Heels to cut it to a seven-point lead (47-40) with 13:44 to play. But Indiana regained its footing from there, eventually pushing the lead out to 21 points before settling on the final 18-point margin of victory.
This was not a tough February road contest during the teeth of the Big Ten season. Nor was it a marquee non-conference matchup in November.
Still, the promise of what this team could be was on display tonight in Indianapolis.
