6-Banner Sunday: IU basketball improves to 9-3 with Chicago State win
- Staff
- 2h 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 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 in a game against a low-major opponent, though not all moments were perfect. Also, football learned its opponent for the upcoming Rose Bowl.
Additionally, women’s basketball won; Inside the Hall updated its Big Ten power rankings and examined how former Hoosiers are performing across college basketball. As usual, we will conclude with weekly shows and a look at the rest of the IU sports in action, highlighted by baseball, which has named a new pitching coach.
Here is what is in this week’s edition:
• IU basketball beats Chicago State, 78-58
• IU football will play Alabama in the Rose Bowl
• IU women’s basketball prevails against Eastern Michigan
• Big Ten power rankings and an update on former IU players
• Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows
• Hoosier Roundup
Banner #1 – IU basketball beats Chicago State, 78-58
IU basketball returned to action against a low-major opponent after a tough recent schedule. This opposition was Chicago State on Saturday.
The Hoosiers raced out to a massive 52-29 halftime lead with hot 3-point shooting (14-for-26) as expected. However, the second half was a grind as shot-making stopped (just 1-for-20 from downtown). While the lead was never cut into, the advantage remained around 20-25 points for the final 20 minutes. In the end, Indiana won 78-58 despite being outscored 29-26 after intermission.
They were led in scoring by Big Ten player of the week Lamar Wilkerson. Wilkerson scored 21 points while hitting five shots from behind the 3-point line.
Afterwards, IU coach Darian DeVries spoke, Inside the Hall had a photo gallery, Ryan Corazza wrote The Minute After, Alex Bozich penned Five Takeaways and Nick Rodecap put together a column about the team’s inconsistencies.
At 9-3 overall, the Hoosiers take on Siena at 6 p.m. ET Monday on BTN. After that, it will be a long holiday break before returning to Big Ten play for good in early January.
IU’s NET sits around 30 overall. While they have no signature victories, they have kept their losses to close margins and victories (except Incarnate Word) have come by double-digit margins. However, how they perform in conference play will determine whether they make their first March Madness since 2023.
Banner #2 – IU football will play Alabama in the Rose Bowl
After its first Big Ten Championship since 1967, the football Hoosiers were profiled on 60 Minutes last Sunday. They also moved to No. 1 in the country for the first time in program history and had their first ever Heisman Trophy winner.
Their next game will be against Alabama in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN. This will be their first of three potential matchups in the College Football Playoff as Indiana chases its first national championship.
Their opponent was learned on Friday after the Crimson Tide rallied from a 17-0 deficit against Oklahoma. The final was 34-24 as the Sooners had a punt blocked and threw a pick-six after building the large early lead.
While Alabama is still very talented and dangerous, it is far from the vintage squad it was under the now-retired Nick Saban. Former Hoosier offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer coaches them and the staff includes many others with IU ties. The Crimson Tide are 11-3 overall and IU is favored by about a touchdown led by their elite defense.
Banner #3 – IU women’s basketball prevails against Eastern Michigan
Women’s basketball played a much closer game than expected against Eastern Michigan. While IU remained ahead for almost the entire night, the lead was single digits for most of the contest.
In the end, the Hoosiers survived 74-67. With the victory, Indiana improved to 10-2 overall and has just one more non-conference matchup to go.
This will come today against Western Carolina at 1 p.m. ET on BIG+. While the squad has avoided any bad losses, several of these contests against mid-majors have been much closer than expected.
This has led to poor metrics and a NET in the 40’s. Whether Indiana can make its seventh straight NCAA tournament will depend on how well it performs in conference play, which remains an open question. This is because they have limited scoring options outside guards Shay Ciezki (who was honored by the Big Ten this week) and Lenee Beaumont.
Banner #4 – Big Ten power rankings and an update on former IU players
With a new roster for 2025-2026, 11 Indiana players are now competing on other teams across college basketball. The most successful of these players by far is Malik Reneau at Miami, who is averaging roughly 20 points per game as the Hurricanes are off to a solid 9-2 start and are ranked in the top 40 on KenPom.
The Big Ten as a whole has been strong in the early going with Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue looking like national championship contenders. The conference has not won a title since the Spartans in 2000, despite many Final Four appearances.
Inside the Hall put together updated power rankings. The aforementioned three squads top these, along with Nebraska, which has been a huge surprise in the early going.
Banner #5 – Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows
Inside the Hall’s Podcast on the Brink returned this week. On it, Assembly Call’s Ryan Phillips joined Bozich for a discussion about IU basketball’s performance so far.
The Back Home Network has several new shows. As a result, it was on air many times this week as well with programming.
Banner #6 – Hoosier Roundup
• Baseball’s pitching coach, Dustin Glant, who struggled during his time in Bloomington, left the program for a professional opportunity several weeks ago. Now his replacement was named as Matt Myers takes the role after a previous stint in the minor leagues. He does, however, have prior college experience.
• Men’s Soccer had a player selected in the MLS Super Draft.
• Volleyball had several players honored after their historic season.
• Field Hockey had an All-American named.
• Rowing announced its upcoming spring schedule.
• Finally, many IU athletes graduated as part of the winter class.
Now go enjoy yourself a 6-Banner Sunday.
Aaron (Ari) Shifron
Assembly Call Contributor
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