Indiana’s second exhibition stop in Indianapolis arrives Sunday with a much bigger name on the other sideline.
After rolling past Butler in its preseason opener, IU basketball heads to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to face North Carolina at 5 p.m. ET. The Hoosiers are trying to keep building momentum after a 96-68 win at Hinkle Fieldhouse, a game that turned into a runaway behind a second-half surge.
Indiana buried the Bulldogs with an extended 33-4 run after halftime and looked deep across the board in the process. Every one of the 14 Hoosiers who saw the floor scored at least two points, nine players reached at least six, and four finished in double figures. Fourth-year guard Markus Burton, third-year guard Darren Harris and third-year center Samet Yigitoglu each put up 13 points, while third-year forward Aiden Sherrell chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds.
Now comes a tougher preseason test against a Tar Heels team led by first-year head coach Michael Malone. Malone arrives with serious NBA credentials, having spent 24 seasons on league benches, including 12 as a head coach and 10 with the Denver Nuggets. He won the NBA Championship in 2023 and has 510 career wins.
North Carolina’s top returning experience includes senior forward Jarin Stevenson, one of two holdovers who played in 15-plus games during the 2025-26 season. He averaged 8.1 points and 4.4 rebounds while starting 25 of 33 games. Senior guard Jaydon Young is the other veteran returner, appearing in 31 games and making four starts while averaging 1.8 points and 0.9 rebounds.
Sunday’s matchup also fits into a busy stretch for Indiana in the Circle City. This is the second of several IU games in Indianapolis this season, with non-conference matchups against Syracuse at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Nov. 9 and Kentucky at Lucas Oil Stadium on Nov. 20 still ahead. The 2027 Big Ten Tournament is also set for Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Indiana leads the all-time series 10-6, and the last meeting came in Bloomington on Nov. 30, 2022, when the Hoosiers beat UNC 77-65.
In Other News...
Indiana Was At The Center Of A Costly Officiating Controversy
Indiana has already found itself in the middle of one officiating controversy this fall, even before the wider fallout from the Notre Dame-BYU clock mistake became a talking point. In the Ohio State game, a roughing the passer penalty extended an Indiana drive and kept the momentum shifting at a key moment, another reminder of how one call can change the shape of a game long before the final score is settled.
The Notre Dame-BYU ending only added more attention to the issue, with a clock error costing the Cougars a final play and prompting the Big 12 to acknowledge the mistake and review its end-of-game officiating process. For Indiana, it is the kind of cross-connected storyline that lingers around a season when the biggest outcomes can hinge on the smallest details, and the latest uproar only sharpens the scrutiny on how these games are being handled. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Fans Have One Big AP Poll Debate After Costly Loss
Indianas loss on Oct. 18 landed in the middle of a wild Saturday for the AP Top 25, one in which five teams ranked inside the top seven went down. Notre Dame, Georgia, Indiana, Alabama and Texas all took losses, and the ripple effect should make the next poll one of the most shuffled in recent memory.
For Hoosiers fans, the bigger debate is less about the defeat itself and more about where Indiana fits when the rankings reset around it. With teams such as BYU, Oregon and Oklahoma State also in the mix after their own recent results, the new AP Top 25 could look significantly different, and Indianas place in that picture will be one of the most closely watched calls. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana's Big Ten Path Just Got A Lot More Complicated
The Big Ten picture got a little shakier over the weekend, with a few of Indianas upcoming opponents suddenly forced to navigate quarterback uncertainty. Michigan turned to freshman Tommy Carr at halftime after benching Bryce Underwood, and the offense responded with multiple second-half touchdowns. Across the league, Ohio State is also dealing with a major change after Julian Sayin suffered an arm injury expected to keep him out for several weeks, while freshman Luke Fahey has stepped into that role.
For Indiana, the timing matters because these are the kinds of moving parts that can reshape a conference stretch in a hurry. Michigans coaching staff is still leaving room to sort out its long-term answer under center, Ohio State has already shifted to a next-man-up approach, and UCLAs Ty Dieffenbach has at least given the Bruins some stability after their starters season-ending injury ahead of a looming matchup with Michigan. It is the sort of quarterback carousel that can turn a clean path through the league into something far less predictable. [Read more 🡒]