Indiana’s 3-0 start has come with a clear warning label: the defense that looked sharp in the exhibitions has not held up once the games started counting.
That’s the tension around IU basketball right now. The Hoosiers were solid enough in October, holding Butler to 0.88 points per possession, UNC to 0.78 and Western Kentucky to 0.96 across three exhibition games.
But in the regular season, the numbers have slipped. Indiana gave up 0.81 points per possession to Eastern Illinois in the opener, though that wasn’t especially encouraging with the Panthers shooting 61.1 percent on 2s.
Since then, the Hoosiers have allowed more than a point per possession in back-to-back games.
There are still positives in the profile, and the clearest one is on the defensive glass. Indiana has done a strong job finishing possessions, both in the exhibitions and the first three regular-season games.
Through all six games, no opponent has grabbed more than 25 percent of its missed shots. That’s a major step forward from the 2025-26 season, when IU ranked 123rd nationally in defensive rebounding percentage.
Right now, the Hoosiers sit 31st in that category. The work on the glass, along with IU’s emphasis on offensive rebounding, has helped Indiana win the second-chance points battle in every game so far.
The trouble is happening closer to the rim. Indiana brought in Aiden Sherrell and Samet Yigitoglu, and also got the unexpected return of Sam Alexis, giving the staff the size to battle in the Big Ten.
So far, though, the protection hasn’t matched the personnel. As of Wednesday morning, IU ranked 257th nationally in block percentage and 270th in 2-point field-goal percentage defense.
Opponents are shooting 73 percent at the rim. After Eastern Illinois hit 61.1 percent of its 2s, Bellarmine shot 55.9 percent on 2s and Syracuse shot 55.6 percent on 2s.
Last season, the Division I average for 2-point field-goal percentage was 51.7. Three games into this season, Indiana’s opponents are making 57.5 percent of their 2s.
Darian DeVries didn’t dance around the issues in his Wednesday media availability. He pointed first to the ball and the need for more resistance there.
Indiana, he said, has to improve its “physicality on the ball and staying in front of the ball.”
He also said the ball screen coverage “just hasn’t been what we need it to be right now.”
“Some of that’s just the connectivity as an entire defense,” he said. “It’s not always just the guy on the ball, but the drop coverage, some of the switching, those types of things. And then our backside just getting a little spread out at times.”
That showed up late in Monday’s win over Syracuse, when freshman guard Ryan Moesch kept making plays off the dribble out of ball screens. DeVries said that stretch stood out to him.
“In the second half of this Syracuse game, I thought our ball screen coverage wasn’t nearly what we needed it to be and wanted it to be,” DeVries said.
Indiana has also been able to force turnovers at a decent clip. KenPom.com lists the Hoosiers at 22.1 percent in opponent turnover percentage, which is above average nationally.
But that number comes with a catch: at times, IU has been too eager to hunt steals and deflections instead of staying locked in defensively. When those chances miss, the result can be straight-line drives and scrambling rotations.
“We’re getting some, and that’s a good thing,” DeVries explained. “We’ve been a little bit all or nothing on some of that. We’re getting some steals and deflections here and there.
“But we’re also giving up some straight-line drives at times. So it’s finding that balance of, like, hey, here’s where we can be aggressive and be able to create those turnovers and advantages.”
In Other News...
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Urban Meyer Just Reignited Indianas CFP Respect Debate
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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 🡒]