Darren Harris got going early, and Aiden Sherrell made his presence felt just about everywhere in Indiana's 92-69 win over Bellarmine on Thursday night in Bloomington.
Here are three observations from the Hoosiers' second win of the season.
Darian DeVries spent the summer and much of the preseason talking up Darren Harris. He gave Harris about as clear a green light from 3-point range as a coach can give.
After a quiet exhibition slate and a season opener against Eastern Illinois in which Harris scored seven points and missed all three of his 3-point attempts, Thursday offered a glimpse of why DeVries spent the preseason talking Harris up.
Harris looked for his shot early, hitting three of his first six first-half 3-pointers and leading Indiana with 15 points at the break. He finished with 23 points.
One of the biggest questions about Harris entering the year was how his game would translate from sporadic minutes at Duke to a role that asks him to be one of Indiana's top scoring options. The Hoosiers need him to stay efficient while taking more shots, and that starts with being willing to take them.
One night against Bellarmine doesn't answer the bigger question. It did show what Indiana's offense can get from Harris when he plays with the freedom DeVries has been encouraging since the summer.
There was a possession Thursday that explained Sherrell's value better than his scoring line ever could.
He blocked a shot at the rim, helped deter another after Bellarmine grabbed the offensive rebound, then sprinted out to the arc to run a shooter off the line. Sherrell stayed in front when the shooter put the ball on the floor, and the possession ended in a shot-clock violation.
That sequence kept showing up in different forms on Thursday. In the second half, he picked up a ball-handler 35 feet from the basket, eventually came away with a steal and then went coast to coast for a layup. He also had two blocks before halftime.
Indiana has several players who could lead it in scoring
on any given night. Sherrell might be one of its most important players even on a night when he takes only six shots. Bellarmine regularly sent a second defender his way, and he finished with 12 points, including a made 3-pointer.
There aren't many bigs who can protect the rim, handle a guard on the perimeter, and make an opposing defense account for them beyond the arc. Sherrell showed all three Thursday.
Trevor Manhertz checked in alongside Trent Sisley early in the first half on Thursday and needed fewer than five seconds to put up a 3-pointer. By now, that's what you'd expect from him.
A more telling play came when Manhertz grabbed a defensive rebound later in the opening stanza. Markus Burton and Bryce Lindsay were both on the floor, but neither came back to take the ball from him. Both ran ahead, and the young freshman brought it up himself.
It was a small moment, but it showed how comfortable his teammates already are letting him make a play. Indiana got a look at what trusting its freshmen with meaningful minutes could look like in its final exhibition. Manhertz is carrying that into the regular season.
He made two 3-pointers Thursday and also grabbed five rebounds. The shooting is the obvious reason to put him on the floor. The confidence to grab a rebound and start the next possession himself is another reason to keep him there.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/indiana as Instant Observations from Indiana Basketball's Blowout Win Over Bellarmine .
