Indiana men’s basketball gets its second test of the 2026-27 season Thursday night, hosting Bellarmine at Assembly Hall in Bloomington.
It’s another buy game for the Hoosiers, but there’s still value in a night like this. With a new roster still coming together after a summer full of work and several exhibition chances over the past few weeks, Indiana is in the part of the season where even a lopsided matchup can tell you something useful.
The biggest thing to keep an eye on is the glass. DeVries has made it clear through his roster decisions and his comments in media availabilities that rebounding is central to what this team wants to be.
Indiana has real size up front, with 7-footers Samet Yigitoglu and Aiden Sherrell in the starting mix, and that should make the Hoosiers a force on the boards. But this isn’t just about the bigs.
DeVries has pushed the guards to join the fight, too, and the whole lineup is expected to crash down and create extra possessions.
Bellarmine doesn’t have much size to match that. The Knights have only one player taller than 6-foot-8 in sophomore center Jacob Wassler, and he hasn’t shown much impact on the glass. That sets up a game where Indiana should be able to play physical, control the boards and keep Bellarmine from settling in.
Aiden Sherrell is another name worth watching after a mixed debut against Eastern Illinois. The prized portal addition finished with 9 points, six rebounds and an assist, but he shot 0-for-4 from 3-point range and 3-for-11 overall.
That’s not a disaster, especially in 25 minutes, and there were still positives in the box score: he avoided foul trouble and grabbed two offensive rebounds. It was one game, nothing more, and Thursday gives him another chance to show why Indiana wanted him.
The other interesting piece is Jaeden Mustaf. Markus Burton and Bryce Lindsay have already shown what they can do with the ball, with Burton standing out against Eastern Illinois and Lindsay making himself valuable during the preseason exhibition stretch.
Mustaf offers a different kind of threat. He brings more bounce than either of those guards and adds size to it, which gives him a chance to put pressure on the rim in a way that can force defenses to collapse.
That kind of interior stress can open things up for him and for Indiana’s shooters.
Mustaf didn’t take many shots in the opener, finishing with just three attempts in 24 minutes. He went 4-for-5 at the line, added three rebounds and handed out two assists. His role is the one that feels most worth tracking as the season develops.
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Indiana Gets An Early Chance To Show What This Team Really Has
Indiana gets another look at itself Thursday night when Bellarmine comes to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, giving the Hoosiers an early chance to build on a season-opening win over Eastern Illinois. Markus Burton set the tone in that opener with 19 points and five assists, and now Indiana can start showing whether that performance was the first step of something more or just a solid opening-night start.
Bellarmine is a familiar name around Bloomington even if this is the first regular-season meeting between the programs, with Indiana having handled the Knights in previous exhibition games. The setting should make for a useful early test, with the game on Peacock and NBC Sports Network offering another chance to see how this group looks when it tries to carry its first-game momentum into a different kind of matchup. [Read more 🡒]