Quick notes, observations, stats from IU basketball’s 79-74 exhibition win over WKU

EVANSVILLE — Indiana defeated Western Kentucky 79-74 Sunday afternoon in exhibition action at the Ford Center.

Below are some quick notes, observations and stats from the game.

The Hoosiers open the 2026-27 season on Nov. 2 against Eastern Illinois in Bloomington.

— Hoosiers have to rally against a mid-major: Western Kentucky led 51-40 with 14:31 left before IU closed on an extended 39-23 run.

— The bench, including three freshmen pull it out: Coach Darian DeVries put in Sam Alexis for Aiden Sherrell with 6:22 left in the game and IU down 62-59. Alexis joined fellow reserves Bryce Lindsay, Vaughn Karvala, Prince-Alexander Moody and Trevor Manhertz as the five on the floor for IU the remainder of the game — and they rallied for the win. The three freshmen combined for 14 of IU’s final 39 points.

— Lindsay leads again: Lindsay had 20 points and made some key shots in the second half to help IU rally. He had 26 in the exhibition win over North Carolina, also a team high. He made 6 of 11 shots including 4 of 8 from three. Lindsay added three rebounds, three assists and just one turnover.

— IU starting point guard Markus Burton had a tough afternoon. Burton slipped and appeared to hurt his hand early in the game. He would go on to struggle throughout the contest. Burton was just 1-of-11 from the field.

— All the starters were off. Darren Harris was 0 of 5 from the field, Jaeden Mustaf had three turnovers, and Aiden Sherrell and Samet Yigitoglu were non-factors — just a combined 1 of 4 from the field for 4 points.

— Across the board shooting struggles. Indiana struggled from two, three and at the stripe. Despite a size advantage IU only made 13 twos, and it shot just 32.3% from three and 62.2% on 37 free throw attempts.

— Western Kentucky’s aggressive defense a factor. The Hilltoppers aggressively hedged ball screens, double-teamed, and kept IU on its heels and out of rhythm. That led to 14 Hoosiers turnovers (against just 15 assists) and played a role in their poor shooting percentages as several possessions went late into the shot clock. But it also had WKU in foul trouble, and provided those 37 free throw attempts for IU.

— Not as dominant on the glass. IU pulled away with a double-digit rebounding margin (49-39) late as WKU went cold. But midway through the second half the rebound totals were fairly even. IU did assert its will late with some offensive rebounds and managed 14 on the afternoon.

— Difficulty containing Teagan Moore: Western Kentucky has a major star in Moore, who averaged 18 a game a year ago for the Hilltoppers. IU had a hard time stopping him. He poured in 30 points and kept WKU in it all afternoon. Moore got to the stripe for 11 attempts.

— Overall solid defense: IU held WKU to 36.9% shooting from the field — the third straight exhibition it has held on opponent under 40%. And the Hoosiers forced 13 turnovers. Excessive fouling did lead to an 18 of 25 day at the free throw line for the Hilltoppers, however.