North Carolina tipped off the Mike Malone era with an 88-70 exhibition victory over the USC Trojans. They found things significantly more difficult on Sunday evening at Gainbridge Fieldhouse as the Indiana Hoosiers dominated the visitors from the ACC 76-58. The victory followed an impressive 96-68 win over Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse and moves IU to 2-0 in exhibition games ahead of the 2026 season.
For the second straight contest, Markus Burton was in foul trouble and Bryce Lindsay was asked to step in and run the offense. He responded in a big way, leading the Hoosiers with 18 points in the first half followed by another spurt late on his way to 26 points with four made three-pointers. For the second time in as many games, IU’s newfound size played a huge role as they dominated the North Carolina Tar Heels on the glass. Indiana outrebounded UNC 53-31 and racked up 20 offensive boards that led to 17 second-chance points. Darian DeVries rotated Aiden Sherrell, Sam Alexis and Samet Yigitoglu but often had at least two of the big men on the floor. Darren Harris (11), Markus Burton (11) and Sam Alexis (10) joined Lindsay in double-figures.
North Carolina has a rebuilt roster after the surprise hire of Mike Malone but the Tar Heels are projected to finish 5th in the ACC and are a blue-blood program with legitimate high-major talent so this was an impressive defensive performance from Indiana. North Carolina was held to just 34.9 percent from the field and only 29 points in each half. The interior duo of Samet Yigitoglu and Aiden Sherrell patrolled the paint and combined for 21 rebounds to lead Indiana to another dominant performance on the glass. IU led the contest for nearly 34 of the 40 minutes and were the clearly superior team, despite the mostly poor shooting and 15 turnovers.
Indiana concludes the exhibition season next Sunday with a meeting against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.
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