Indiana men’s basketball gets back to work Thursday night at Assembly Hall, and the matchup with Tennessee Tech comes with a few obvious pressure points after the Hoosiers’ strange 83-80 win over Syracuse.
Indiana opened the season with comfortable wins over Eastern Illinois and Bellarmine before surviving that trip to Indianapolis. It’s still early, but the Syracuse game exposed a couple of issues that need attention, and Thursday offers a chance to see whether the Hoosiers clean them up.
The first thing to monitor is whether Indiana can get more out of its size on offense. Samet Yigitoglu and Aiden Sherrell, the team’s starting 7-footers at center and power forward, combined for just 14 points against Syracuse.
Yigitoglu’s 8 points came mostly when the game brought them to him, so that output wasn’t especially surprising. Sherrell’s 6-point night was a different story.
He picked up two early fouls, sat for a stretch and never really settled in after that, but Indiana needs more from him than that. He finished with only two shot attempts, and that’s not enough for a player of his caliber.
That frontcourt usage will be worth tracking against Tennessee Tech, especially if the Hoosiers want to take advantage of all that size when they have the ball.
The other major storyline is Tennessee Tech coach Tobin Anderson. Anderson, the man behind Fairleigh Dickinson’s unforgettable first-round upset of 1-seed Purdue in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, is now leading the Golden Eagles into Assembly Hall.
After that run, he landed the Iona job when Rick Pitino left for St. John’s, but Iona moved on from him after 2024-25.
He arrived at Tennessee Tech this past offseason.
Anderson’s teams can clearly score. Tennessee Tech opened the year with 88 points on the road at Mississippi State, then put up 117 in a non Division-I win over Blue Mountain Christian University and followed that with a 97-94 victory over Western Kentucky. That last result matters because Western Kentucky also gave Indiana trouble in exhibition play a few weeks ago.
Indiana’s defense is the final thing to watch. The Hoosiers looked shaky on that end against Syracuse, and it kept them from stretching out the small leads they managed during the game. Tennessee Tech has already shown it can bother a high-major opponent, so the question is whether Indiana tightens things up or whether Anderson finds the same kind of openings Gerry McNamara did.
In Other News...
Indiana Gets One Encouraging Sign Before Must Win USC Matchup
Indiana at least got one bit of positive injury news heading into a must-win matchup with USC, with quarterback Josh Hoover expected to be available after being left off the initial injury report. Coach Curt Cignetti still has not named a starter, but he said Hoover will be in uniform if he stays clear of the report, giving the Hoosiers some stability at the most important position as they try to keep their season on track.
The rest of the availability picture is less reassuring. Leading rusher Turbo Richard and defensive end Kellan Wyatt have already been ruled out, while cornerback A.J. Harris and linebacker Rolijah Hardy are listed as questionable, leaving Indiana with several key spots still unsettled. Even with Hoover trending in the right direction, the Hoosiers are heading into a game where every healthy body matters, and the final lineup could shape how much room they have to compete with USC. [Read more 🡒]
Indianas Quarterback Uncertainty Just Got Bigger Before USC
Indianas quarterback situation got a little murkier this week as Curt Cignetti sorted through a room already under scrutiny ahead of USC. Grant Wilson missed practice because of the flu, while Josh Hoover was held out for injury recovery, leaving the Hoosiers to lean more heavily on backup Jacob Bell, who drew praise from Cignetti for the way he handled his work on the field.
The timing is less than ideal with USC looming, especially with Cignetti already pointing to the Trojans offense and defense as a major test. Indiana also has some cleanup to do in other areas, including special teams, which adds another layer to a week that was already going to be about finding answers before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Urban Meyer Just Reignited Indianas CFP Respect Debate
Indianas place in the College Football Playoff conversation took another public hit this week when Urban Meyer weighed in on the rankings, and the former coach did not exactly defend the Hoosiers standing. On FOX, Meyer pointed out that Indiana slid from No. 4 to No. 9 even without playing in Week 10, using the drop as evidence that the committee may have overvalued the Hoosiers early on.
The larger debate around Indiana has only grown louder as Notre Dame and UCLA moved up in the rankings and the Big Ten and Big 12 continue to jockey for playoff representation. Meyers comments fed right into the skepticism around Indianas rsum, with unimpressive wins and a shaky strength of schedule becoming the central sticking points in how the Hoosiers are being judged. [Read more 🡒]