Indiana basketball’s offseason priority is showing up loud and clear in two exhibition games: the Hoosiers are punishing opponents on the glass.
They beat Butler 53-33 in rebounding earlier this month at Hinkle Fieldhouse, then outdid that number with a 53-31 edge over North Carolina on Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Indiana grabbed 17 offensive rebounds against Butler and 20 against the Tar Heels, turning those extra possessions into 42 second-chance points across the two wins, which came by a combined 46 points.
North Carolina coach Michael Malone didn’t hide his frustration after Indiana’s 76-58 win.
“To be manhandled, to be outworked on the glass was disappointing,” he said after Indiana’s 76-58 win.
Those numbers stand out even more when stacked against last season’s problems. Indiana was outrebounded by 121 across its 14 losses, an average of 8.6 per game.
The margins were brutal in several of those defeats: -18 at Michigan, -17 at Michigan State, -15 at USC, and -14 at Purdue, Minnesota and Illinois. The Hoosiers also managed double-digit offensive rebounds just once against a high-major opponent last season, when they had 12 at an undersized Maryland team.
As the 2024-25 season wound down, Darian DeVries came to see size as a real factor in those losses, the ones that kept Indiana out of the NCAA Tournament. He eventually started two bigs for the first time all season at the Big Ten Tournament, but by then the damage was already done.
DeVries also knew the broader trend. Several of the nation’s strongest teams last season were among the best in rebounding margin, including Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, Duke, and Arizona. Five of the top 10 in that category reached the Elite Eight, and three made the Final Four.
“You either match that size, or you get overwhelmed.”
So Indiana made the board work a central part of its rebuild. DeVries made that clear after the Butler exhibition.
“It’s been our focus the whole offseason,” DeVries said after the Butler exhibition. “We want to be built for that.”
The roster additions fit that plan. Indiana brought in 7-foot-2 Samet Yigitoglu, the tallest player in program history, and he has already shown more mobility than his size might suggest. He can finish over defenders, but he can also leave his area and tip an offensive rebound out to a guard.
The Hoosiers also have Aiden Sherrell, listed as a 7-foot power forward, giving them another frontcourt piece with a size edge in most matchups. Through two exhibitions against high-major length and athleticism, Sherrell is averaging 9.5 rebounds, with 3.5 offensive boards per game. Yigitoglu is averaging 8.0 rebounds and 3.5 on the offensive end.
Coming off the bench, Sam Alexis has also added to the equation. Across his college career, he has averaged 11.8 rebounds per-40 minutes.
DeVries’ emphasis hasn’t been limited to the frontcourt. He had to choose between Jaeden Mustaf and Bryce Lindsay for a starting spot in the exhibitions, and both had cases as high-major starters from a year ago.
Lindsay’s 26 points off the bench against North Carolina made the call look complicated, but Mustaf’s size, defensive presence, physicality, and rebounding ability were part of the equation. The 6-foot-6 wing is averaging 6.5 rebounds, including 2.0 offensive boards, in the exhibitions.
Indiana’s rebounding issues last season were especially pronounced on the road, where shots often fail to fall and turnovers can pile up. That script showed up again against North Carolina, as the Hoosiers shot 36% and turned it over 15 times. On most nights, that’s a recipe for trouble.
Unless a team is crashing the offensive boards and cashing in 17 second-chance points.
“We weren’t very clean on the offensive end, but we were still able to overcome it with some offensive rebounding,” DeVries said Sunday. “And like I told them before the game, we’ve been talking about it all summer and fall, this is our identity.
This is who we’re going to be. Just embrace it because we’re going to stay on it, stay on it, stay on it.
And again, I thought that eventually broke the game open.”
There is a downside, of course. Packing the offensive glass means fewer bodies getting back in transition, and that can create exposure if the rebound doesn’t fall Indiana’s way. DeVries said that part of the balance is becoming a priority as teams get more familiar with his group.
“Occasionally you are going to get caught a little bit, maybe with some long rebounds, and maybe it leads to some breakouts,” DeVries said. “So, your transition from going to the glass to getting your defense put back together is a huge priority.
“But I think it’s going to be worth the risk for us, because those second and third opportunities, you score at such a high rate when you get an offensive rebound, whether you just get a putback or a kickout three, that we just feel like if we can get enough quality shots on our first attempt, but then on the ones we do miss, if we can get second and third opportunities, it has a chance to make us an elite offense.”
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The matchup feels like a revealing one for Indiana because recent struggles have sharpened the focus on how the offense responds when the margin for error shrinks. Michigans defensive strength presents a tough test for the Hoosiers, and the way Indiana handles that challenge could say plenty about where the passing game stands right now, even before any final result comes into view. [Read more 🡒]