Indiana closes out exhibition play Sunday with a trip to Evansville, where the Hoosiers face Western Kentucky at 4 p.m. ET at the Ford Center.
IU has rolled through its preseason slate so far, opening with a 96-68 win over Butler and following that with a 76-58 victory over North Carolina. Sunday gives the Hoosiers one more tune-up before the games count for real.
Western Kentucky comes in with a familiar name at the controls in Hank Plona, now in his third year leading the program. Plona is 35-29 overall and 19-19 in Conference USA across his first two seasons.
The Hilltoppers also bring back their top offensive threat in Teagan Moore, last season’s All-Conference USA First Team selection. Moore averaged 18.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while shooting 52.9% from the field, 42.9% from 3-point range and 80.0% at the line in his third season.
Armelo Boone is another key returner for WKU. The second-year guard earned a spot on the 2025-26 C-USA All-Freshman Team after putting up 10.9 points, a team-best 6.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals in 24.4 minutes per game during his debut season.
Indiana has been perfect in Evansville, going 4-0 there all time. The Hoosiers played the second game in Ford Center history on Nov. 16, 2011, when Cody Zeller had 14 points and nine rebounds in a 94-73 win over Evansville.
IU also owns a win there from the 1983 NCAA Tournament, when Randy Wittman scored 22 points in a 63-49 second-round victory over Oklahoma and Wayman Tisdale.
“We get to be in state in Evansville, I think that’s great just to have some more fans from that area be able to to come watch us play there,” IU coach Darian DeVries said. “So it’s a fun game for us.”
In Other News...
Indiana Has A Real Problem As Title Hopes Stay Alive
Indianas playoff hopes are very much alive, and the defense has been a big reason why. At 7-1, the Hoosiers have built a profile that belongs in the national top tier, staying in games against elite opposition and giving themselves a legitimate shot at a postseason run even as the schedule stiffens.
The concern is harder to ignore on offense, where this group has not matched the production Indiana enjoyed in previous seasons. The Hoosiers can survive with a dominant defense for now, but the margin shrinks against top-10-caliber teams, and how they handle those offensive issues from here will say a lot not just about this season, but about where the program is headed next. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Faces A Complicated Ranking Drop After Costly Upset
Miami stayed put at No. 1 in the AP college football rankings after handling Pittsburgh, and the top of the poll now gets a fresh shakeup behind it. BYU, which entered the weekend at No. 2, suffered a double-overtime loss to unranked UCF, a result that should send the Cougars sliding when the new rankings come out. Ohio State is widely projected to climb into the No. 2 spot, but the rest of the top tier is less settled.
For Indiana fans, the intrigue is in how much the committee of pollsters reshuffles the next few places around the Hoosiers. Notre Dame, Indiana and Georgia all sit in the mix for the top six, and their exact order is still uncertain after BYUs upset opened the door for movement. The Hoosiers are left waiting on the voters to decide just how dramatic the fallout becomes. [Read more 🡒]
Indianas Defense Looks Elite But The Hoosiers Have A Bigger Problem
Indianas defense carried the day in its 13-6 overtime win over Michigan, smothering the Wolverines from the opening series and keeping the game from ever getting away. The Hoosiers held Michigan to just 93 total yards in the first half and kept stacking up turnovers and sacks, with Amare Ferrell, Rolijah Hardy, Tobi Osunsanmi and AJ Harris all turning in impact snaps that made the difference when the offense could not find much rhythm.
That kind of effort has been the backbone of Indianas rise, and it was again the reason the Hoosiers left with a statement win. But even in a game where the defense looked elite, the bigger concern is still what Indiana does when it has the ball, because the margin for error gets much thinner when the stops have to be this constant to survive. [Read more 🡒]