Indiana University Athletics
Sunday, October 18
Indianapolis, Ind.
5:00 PM
Indiana University
vs
North Carolina (Exhibition)
Double Trouble for North Carolina – Sherrell, Yigitoglu Force Decisions
10/18/2026 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- It's not quite go big or go home for these Indiana Hoosiers. The roster is built too well, with too much flexibility for that.
But when 7-foot Aiden Sherrell and 7-foot-2 Samet Yigitoglu play together, as they will a lot this season, opponents beware.
"I love those two together," coach Darian DeVries says. "I think they complement each other well."
We got a strong sample of that during last Sunday's 96-68 exhibition victory over Butler. We'll get another this Sunday when IU faces North Carolina at Indianapolis Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Yigitoglu had 13 points, five rebounds, and one block in 20 minutes against Butler. Sherrell had 10 points -- including a 3-pointer -- and nine rebounds in 22 minutes. He tied for the team lead with three assists.
"Aiden gives you so much versatility with his ability to stretch the floor, so we keep our spacing from an offensive standpoint. Even when Samet is down on the block, we could throw it into (Sherrell). And in one on one, Aiden is a lot to deal with down there.
"So now you're forced to make decisions. How much do you want to help? We keep all of our spacing and our shooting on the perimeter with that lineup."
Then there's rebounding. IU totaled 53 rebounds, 17 offensive. Butler had 26 rebounds.
"On the defensive end," DeVries says, "you've got two seven footers protecting the paint and getting on the glass. It's like we've talked about a lot -- rebounding is a priority for us. We built the roster around it. We prioritize it. To see it show up against Butler was really encouraging.
"Our offensive rebound rate was close to 40 percent. Last year we were in the 23 percent range, so that that was a huge improvement. We were at 83.7% on defensive rebounds. It's just one game, but that was something we wanted to see."
The Butler exhibition exposed some Hoosier flaws, which was a good thing, DeVries adds, even as there was much to be optimistic about.
"We're getting more connected on the defensive end. Our challenge is still, especially on the perimeter with our guards, we're not overly big in the backcourt. They have to do a great job of being aggressive without fouling."
Guards Markus Burton (four), Jaeden Mustaf (four), and Bryce Lindsay (three) got in foul trouble against Butler.
"We want them to be tough on the ball, be underneath guys, keep in front of (their man) and do that without fouling," DeVries says. "We have some room to grow there.
"I am excited about what I've seen the last two to three weeks, where guys are starting to pick up their gaps and protect one another and really rely on our team defense. For us to be really good, that's going to have to be elite.
"We do have good rim protection behind it, so if we can continue to build on that perimeter and then have the guys behind it protecting when we do break down, that's what's going to ultimately make our defense really good."
The new exhibition format allows teams to play as many as three games against NCAA Division I opponents as opposed to playing smaller division teams. DeVries is a big fan because it offers a truer picture of where the Hoosiers are than the summer trip to Peru did because of the lack of quality competition.
"The games we had this summer," DeVries says, "from getting a real, true look at what are our strengths and weaknesses, we probably didn't get a lot out of that from that standpoint.
"You've got to play together. When you get to play against teams that you're going to see in the regular season, teams that are similar to Big Ten opponents, that's where you can gain the most valuable information. You want to find out some of your holes before you get into real games and that start to go in the win loss column."
If DeVries wants to go smaller with Sherrell at center surrounded by four guards, "we certainly have it," he says.
"That's what I love about the versatility of our lineup. We can go a little smaller with Aiden at the five and play more of that stretch five with four perimeter guys. We do that decent amount in practice. Maybe for later in games, there are some different situations where we want to do it, as well."
North Carolina beat the University of Southern California 88-70 in its exhibition opener under new coach Michael Malone, who spent 24 seasons in the NBA, 12 as a head coach. He won the 2023 NBA championship with the Denver Nuggets, and 510 career games.
Against USC, forward Jarin Stevenson led the Tar Heels with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Isaiah Denis had 14 points. Guard Neo Avdalas had 15 points, nine rebounds, and five assists.
DeVries says the Hoosiers will do a pregame scout just as they would during the regular season.
"They'll get a normal game day prep. I want them to have that familiarity with how we do things. We want them to have an idea of, here are (North Carolina's) tendencies; here are some of the things we're trying to take away."
Still, coaches will mix things up offensively and defensively to get a feel about the team and different lineups.
"We still want to make sure we get what we want to get out of it," DeVries says, "and see some different things from our side of things."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- It's not quite go big or go home for these Indiana Hoosiers. The roster is built too well, with too much flexibility for that.
But when 7-foot Aiden Sherrell and 7-foot-2 Samet Yigitoglu play together, as they will a lot this season, opponents beware.
"I love those two together," coach Darian DeVries says. "I think they complement each other well."
We got a strong sample of that during last Sunday's 96-68 exhibition victory over Butler. We'll get another this Sunday when IU faces North Carolina at Indianapolis Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Yigitoglu had 13 points, five rebounds, and one block in 20 minutes against Butler. Sherrell had 10 points -- including a 3-pointer -- and nine rebounds in 22 minutes. He tied for the team lead with three assists.
"Aiden gives you so much versatility with his ability to stretch the floor, so we keep our spacing from an offensive standpoint. Even when Samet is down on the block, we could throw it into (Sherrell). And in one on one, Aiden is a lot to deal with down there.
"So now you're forced to make decisions. How much do you want to help? We keep all of our spacing and our shooting on the perimeter with that lineup."
Then there's rebounding. IU totaled 53 rebounds, 17 offensive. Butler had 26 rebounds.
"On the defensive end," DeVries says, "you've got two seven footers protecting the paint and getting on the glass. It's like we've talked about a lot -- rebounding is a priority for us. We built the roster around it. We prioritize it. To see it show up against Butler was really encouraging.
"Our offensive rebound rate was close to 40 percent. Last year we were in the 23 percent range, so that that was a huge improvement. We were at 83.7% on defensive rebounds. It's just one game, but that was something we wanted to see."
The Butler exhibition exposed some Hoosier flaws, which was a good thing, DeVries adds, even as there was much to be optimistic about.
"We're getting more connected on the defensive end. Our challenge is still, especially on the perimeter with our guards, we're not overly big in the backcourt. They have to do a great job of being aggressive without fouling."
Guards Markus Burton (four), Jaeden Mustaf (four), and Bryce Lindsay (three) got in foul trouble against Butler.
"We want them to be tough on the ball, be underneath guys, keep in front of (their man) and do that without fouling," DeVries says. "We have some room to grow there.
"I am excited about what I've seen the last two to three weeks, where guys are starting to pick up their gaps and protect one another and really rely on our team defense. For us to be really good, that's going to have to be elite.
"We do have good rim protection behind it, so if we can continue to build on that perimeter and then have the guys behind it protecting when we do break down, that's what's going to ultimately make our defense really good."
The new exhibition format allows teams to play as many as three games against NCAA Division I opponents as opposed to playing smaller division teams. DeVries is a big fan because it offers a truer picture of where the Hoosiers are than the summer trip to Peru did because of the lack of quality competition.
"The games we had this summer," DeVries says, "from getting a real, true look at what are our strengths and weaknesses, we probably didn't get a lot out of that from that standpoint.
"You've got to play together. When you get to play against teams that you're going to see in the regular season, teams that are similar to Big Ten opponents, that's where you can gain the most valuable information. You want to find out some of your holes before you get into real games and that start to go in the win loss column."
If DeVries wants to go smaller with Sherrell at center surrounded by four guards, "we certainly have it," he says.
"That's what I love about the versatility of our lineup. We can go a little smaller with Aiden at the five and play more of that stretch five with four perimeter guys. We do that decent amount in practice. Maybe for later in games, there are some different situations where we want to do it, as well."
North Carolina beat the University of Southern California 88-70 in its exhibition opener under new coach Michael Malone, who spent 24 seasons in the NBA, 12 as a head coach. He won the 2023 NBA championship with the Denver Nuggets, and 510 career games.
Against USC, forward Jarin Stevenson led the Tar Heels with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Isaiah Denis had 14 points. Guard Neo Avdalas had 15 points, nine rebounds, and five assists.
DeVries says the Hoosiers will do a pregame scout just as they would during the regular season.
"They'll get a normal game day prep. I want them to have that familiarity with how we do things. We want them to have an idea of, here are (North Carolina's) tendencies; here are some of the things we're trying to take away."
Still, coaches will mix things up offensively and defensively to get a feel about the team and different lineups.
"We still want to make sure we get what we want to get out of it," DeVries says, "and see some different things from our side of things."
Players Mentioned
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