Butler Exhibition Game Revealed Why IU is a Stronger Team than Last Season.

Indiana had its first exhibition game of the season last Sunday evening at Hinkle Fieldhouse, facing the Butler Bulldogs. Both teams came into the game as largely unknown entities, bringing in almost entirely new rosters this past offseason, but thanks to an explosive second half, Indiana picked up the 96-68 victory.

While this game didn’t affect Indiana in the win/loss column, it revealed some strengths that IU can flex heading into the regular season.

One of the first strengths that Indiana flexed was its rebounding. Indiana ranked 180th in rebounding percentage last season, and it was one of their main problems throughout the season. In the Butler exhibition, IU out-rebounded Butler 53-33.

“Our rebounding is a priority for us,” Indiana head coach Darian DeVries said in a presser on Wednesday morning. “We built the roster around it, prioritized it, and to see it show up against Butler, I thought was really encouraging. Our offensive rebound rate was close to 30 percent. We were at 23 percent last year, so that was a huge improvement. I think we rebounded 87.3 percent defensively”.

DeVries understood that the rebounding was a huge flaw in Indiana’s game last season, so when he constructed the roster, he looked for guys who were capable rebounders. Last year, Reed Bailey was the tallest man on Indiana’s roster, and in the starting lineup, Sam Alexis was. This year, with Samet Yigitoglu and Aiden Sherrell, IU has two starters that are larger than both of those guys. It is only a one-game sample size, but IU has shown significant signs of improvement in this category already.

“A lot of that is when you have Aiden and Samet out there together, those types of lineups, and Sam (Alexis), Trent (Sisley), they’re all kind of contributing in that way. I thought it was really impactful for us,” DeVries said.

It’s not only the new guys with Sherrell and Yigitoglu, but it is also the returners with Sisley and Alexis that make Indiana such a larger threat on the glass this season. IU is deep, and the exhibition showed that.

Nobody scored more than 13 points, and the team still was able to put up 96. IU had nine players score six or more points, four of them being in the double digits. Much of last season IU relied heavily on the individual heroics of Lamar Wilkerson to score points, but this season, IU seems like they have nine different ways to score the basket.

Indiana will still have its spacing, while also having Yigitoglu or Alexis down low to score in the post game. IU has shooters all around, but also has a player like Markus Burton who can create for others while also being one of the more prolific scorers on the roster.

“Aiden gives you so much versatility with his ability to stretch the floor,” DeVries said. “We still keep our spacing from an offensive standpoint; even when Samet’s down on the block, we could throw it into him, and one-on-one he’s a lot to deal with down there. So now you’re forced with decisions on whether you want to help, and we still keep our spacing and our shooting on the perimeter with that lineup”.

DeVries can’t help but talk about the ways that this year’s offense will just be dynamic. IU has weapons all over the perimeter, while also having a massive body down low that creates issues for opposing defenses. IU is going to make defenses make those tough decisions on how to guard them a lot more this year, when last year it was clearer how to defend IU’s offense.

Then, IU will have way more of a paint presence on the defensive end this year compared to year one of the DeVries era. The Hoosiers have two prolific rim protectors in Yigitoglu and Sherrell.

“On the defensive end, we have two seven-footers protecting the paint and going and getting on the glass,” DeVries said.

It is only a one-game sample, but the Butler exhibition game showed Hoosier Nation why this year’s team deserves some attentiona nd excitement. Last year, IU failed to make the tournament, but in year two of DeVries, they are seeking to be back on that stage.

Indiana has two more exhibition games before the season starts. One against a blue-blooded program, North Carolina, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, at 5 p.m. on Sunday, and another on Oct. 25, at 4 p.m. against Western Kentucky in Evansville, Indiana. Watch for these newfound strengths of the 2026-27 Indiana basketball team.