3 things that stood out as Indiana basketball survives Western Kentucky in exhibition win

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3 things that stood out as Indiana basketball survives Western Kentucky in exhibition win

How Indiana basketball 'took a big step' to close exhibition games unbeaten

Joshua Heron, Indianapolis Star · Indianapolis Star

Sun, Oct 25, 2026 ·

3 min read

Should IU basketball start Bryce Lindsay?

Indiana may have to bring Lindsay off the bench a little earlier. Meaning, they may have to start him. The senior guard had nine first-half points on three made 3s. Lindsay hit a pivotal 3 to tie it at 68 with 4:09 left. Less than two minutes later, he drove to the lane and extended Indiana's lead to 72-68 with 2:19 left. He finished the contest with 20 points, four 3s, three rebounds and two assists.

Lindsay's first taste came just 1:51 into the game. Indiana was already down 5-0 and was 0 for 2 from the field. Not a huge deficit, but consider the second half. Western Kentucky led 37-35 after the first 20 minutes. The Hilltoppers went on a 7-0 run in the first 3:33 of the second half.

By the time Lindsay checked in, WKU led 41-35 and IU had missed three shots. Lindsay proved to be a bench spark after dropping 26 points on Mike Malone's UNC team a week ago. He proved the same Sunday. Keep it up and he may be starting by December.

A Darian DeVries type of possession

Indiana junior guard Darren Harris missed his second free-throw attempt with 9:37 left in the first half. Seven-footer Samet Yigitoglu grabbed the offensive board and kicked it out to first-year Trevor Manhertz . The forward has impressed during preseason and decided to pass up a 3-point attempt for a better look from Harris.

Harris missed his 3, but there Yigitoglu was again. He snatched another board and found an open Lindsay for the 3. Yigitoglu was one of the 11 IU players who joined coach Darian DeVries ' roster this season. DeVries said rebounding was Indiana's "whole focus" this offseason. Indiana ranked among the worst rebounding teams in the Big Ten last year. The Hoosiers outrebounded Butler 53 to 33 in their first exhibition game on Oct. 11 . They did the same against North Carolina on Oct. 18, with UNC grabbing 31 boards .

Against Western Kentucky on Sunday, Indiana had 49 rebounds to WKU's 38. If there's a play to sum up how DeVries wants to play, it happened. If there's a play that sums up how DeVries doesn't want to play, it also happened.

Turnovers continue to haunt Indiana

Western Kentucky sophomore guard Armelo Boone stole the ball from Alexis with a few seconds left in the first half. Junior guard Moore received the ball and pulled from half court as the clock hit zero. Straight bucket.

Indiana committed 15 turnovers against UNC and 12 against Butler. Most of those turnovers came in the first half. The same happened Sunday. Indiana posted eight first-half turnovers against Western Kentucky and finished with 14. DeVries acknowledged Indiana's inability to protect the rock heading into Sunday's game. It seems like we'll hear him address it constantly throughout the season.

Joshua Heron covers the Fever, college sports and enterprise stories for IndyStar. Follow him on Twitter at @JoshEHeron . Want more Hoosiers coverage? Sign up for IndyStar's Hoosiers newsletter . Listen to Mind Your Banners, our IU Athletics-centric podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the latest on IndyStar TV: Hoosiers .