Indiana Beats WKU in Sloppy Exhibition Finale

Written by: TJ Inman

The Indiana Hoosiers overcame a 12-point second half deficit to knock off Western Kentucky 79-74 in Evansville to close out the exhibition season. Both teams struggled from the field as the game lacked rhythm due to a combined 52 fouls and 62 free throw attempts. Bryce Lindsay led the way for the Hoosiers again as the Villanova transfer scored 20 points. Western Kentucky’s Teagan Moore had 30 points to lead all scorers but the Hoosiers came back largely thanks to a lineup that consisted of Sam Alexis, Bryce Lindsay, Vaughn Karvala, Prince Alexander-Moody and Trevor Manhertz.

The Hoosiers begin the regular season on November 2 against Eastern Illinois.

Standout Statistics

-Markus Burton had a really poor outing. The Notre Dame transfer was 1-11 from the field and regularly struggled to finish plays. It’s fair to be a little bit concerned about the player that is expected to lead IU in scoring. He was invisible at the FISU Americas Games in Peru, had foul trouble against Butler and was very average against North Carolina before struggling mightily today.

-Western Kentucky’s defensive strategy consisted of one thing: fouling on every possession. Unfortunately, IU helped that strategy pay off as they shot just 23-37 from the foul line. Full transparency, the officiating in this game was atrocious. The teams combined for 52 fouls and 62 free throw attempts.

-Through the exhibition season, Bryce Lindsay has been Indiana’s best player. He was fantastic again and helped guide the Hoosiers back from a 12-point deficit. Lindsay finished with 20 points in 24 minutes.

-Whether it was intended for the exhibition to get the freshmen more minutes or it was a result of poor play from Burton, Darren Harris and Jaeden Mustaf, Darian DeVries opted to roll with three freshmen plus Sam Alexis and Bryce Lindsay for the bulk of the final ten minutes. Each of the trio made some nice plays to lift the Hoosiers.

-Western Kentucky’s Teagan Moore, the best player in Conference USA, was a handful. He finished with 30 points (with 10-11 from the foul line).

-Indiana had another strong performance on the glass, outrebounding WKU 49-39.