IU basketball returns to the floor tonight for its second game of the 2026-27 season. The Hoosiers will take on Bellarmine at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on Peacock.
Game information
Who: Indiana (1-0) vs. Bellarmine (0-1)
Where: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana
When: Thursday, November 5, 2026. 6 p.m. EST
TV: Peacock, John Fanta (Play-by-Play), Greg McDermott (Analyst)
Radio: Don Fischer (Play-By-Play), Errek Suhr (Analyst)
All-time series: First meeting
Last meeting: First meeting
The line: Indiana -27.5, O/U 153.5 (DraftKings)
KenPom prediction: Indiana 88, Bellarmine 64 (98 percent chance of an IU win)
For the first time, IU basketball will play Bellarmine in a game that counts. The two programs have previously played in exhibition games in 2015 and 2016 before the Knights transitioned to Division I.
Bellarmine, located in Louisville, Kentucky, is a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference and is led by second-year coach Doug Davenport. The Knights lost their season opener 93-47 at Vanderbilt on Monday.
It will be IU’s final tune-up before playing a regular-season game against a high-major opponent. The Hoosiers will play Syracuse on Monday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Meet the Knights
Bellarmine has continuity on its 2026-27 roster. All five starters in Monday’s season opener at Vanderbilt are returnees from last season’s team that finished 13-19 and ranked No. 278 in KenPom.
Bellarmine lost Brian Waddell to graduation and Jack Karasinski to Northwestern, but returns a trio of starters in guard Kenyon Goodin, guard Tyler Doyle and forward Sam Donald.
Goodin, a preseason All-ASUN selection, was third on the roster in scoring last season at 11.6 points per game. The junior from Shelbyville, Kentucky, shot 41 percent from 3-point range in conference games last season. He struggled in the season opener, finishing with just two points on 1-of-6 shooting in 25 minutes.
Doyle, a 6-foot-5 junior from Lexington, Kentucky, made 23 starts last season and averaged 10 points on 52.5 percent shooting from the field. His assist rate was 26.1 percent, eighth in the ASUN last season.
Donald, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, started 29 games last season and averaged 6.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in 26.5 minutes per game.
The Knights rounded out the starting lineup in Monday’s opener with 6-foot-4 junior guard Grant Whitaker and 6-foot-11 sophomore Jacob Wassler.
Whitaker, a native of Murray, Kentucky, made three starts last season and averaged just 1.6 points and 1.1 rebounds in 7.9 minutes per game. Wassler, a Cincinnati native, made a pair of 3-pointers in the opener at Vandy and played in 22 games last season, averaging 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in 12.9 minutes per game.
Also in the Bellarmine rotation are 6-foot-3 sophomore guard Julius Gizzi, a transfer from Indiana Wesleyan; 6-foot-4 freshman guard DeMarcus Surratt; 6-foot-3 sophomore guard Grant Neal; and 6-foot-3 sophomore guard Tommy Clark.
Gizzi had seven points in 20 minutes off the bench in Monday’s opener and Surratt had a team-high nine points in 19 minutes.
Keys for Indiana
• Play inside-out: Bellarmine was among the nation’s worst teams defensively last season, ranking 365th in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom.com. The Knights have little rim protection and are susceptible to second-chance opportunities. If Indiana gets the ball in the paint, it’ll likely lead to a clean look, a foul or a chance for a putback.
• Defend with discipline: Davenport’s offense, which is a continuation of the offense his father, Scott, ran as Bellarmine’s head coach, prioritizes crisp ball movement, very little dribbling and a deliberate pace. Despite its losing record last season, Bellarmine did have a top-100 offense nationally and ranked third in the country in 2-point field goal shooting percentage. After allowing Eastern Illinois to shoot 61.1 percent on 2s in Monday’s opener, Indiana has to be prepared to guard for a full 30 seconds in the halfcourt. The Hoosiers had far too many breakdowns that led to uncontested looks against the Panthers.
• Continue to limit turnovers: Darian DeVries has been consistent in wanting Indiana to be great on the glass and limit turnovers. The Hoosiers did a good job limiting mistakes against EIU, committing just 11 turnovers for a turnover percentage of 15.5.
What it comes down to
The KenPom projection is Indiana by 24 with a 98 percent chance of a Hoosier victory. Bart Torvik favors the Hoosiers by 32, also with a 98 percent chance of a win.
The Knights are the second of four opponents on this season’s schedule ranked worse than 300 by KenPom in the preseason.
While a slight step up in competition from Monday’s opener and a different style to prepare for, the talent gap is large enough that Indiana should cruise to another comfortable victory ahead of Monday’s game against Syracuse.
