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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Player stats, via IU’s postgame notes:

• Freshman wing Vaughn Karvala put on an offensive clinic with a game-high 32 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the floor, 7-of-10 shots from behind the 3-point line, and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. He added two rebounds, two assists, and three steals.

• Junior forward Aiden Sherrell continued his strong play in the FISU America Games with 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots. Through pool play, the Alabama transfer averaged 17.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per outing.

• Forward Sam Alexis put up 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor, six rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.

• Freshman guard Prince-Alexander Moody scored 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from distance. He charted four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. He has averaged 16.5 points on 50.0% shooting from distance (7-of-14) in Lima.

• Redshirt junior guard Markus Burton scored a flurry of third-quarter points to run his total to 11 points, two rebounds, and one assist.

• Junior guard Bryce Lindsay knocked down a trio of 3-pointers to finish with nine points, five rebounds and a team-high six assists.

• Junior guard Jaeden Mustaf posted eight points and seven rebounds.

• Sophomore forward Trent Sisley chipped in eight points and five boards.

• Freshman wing Trevor Manhertz, who earned his first start for the Stars and Stripes, tallied two points, five rebounds, two assists, and a blocked shot.

• Junior guard Darren Harris converted one 3-point attempt to go along with three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

• Senior forward Ian Stephens added two points, two rebounds and one assist in his fourth-quarter minutes.

• Sophomore forward Ben Winker provided two emphatic blocked shots.

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

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