While it’s just an exhibition, Indiana fans got their first look at the 2026-27 basketball squad. The Hoosiers took on Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in exhibition play on Wednesday night at Assembly Hall.
Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf served as “Team Canada” in the exhibition. Indiana represented the United States of America, just like they will in this year's 2026 FISU America Games, in Lima, Peru starting next week.
As expected, there were some rough patches early in the game that seemingly got figured out as the game developed, with Indiana winning 98-64.
There are never many concrete things to take away from preseason scrimmages, let alone ones in July, but there are things that always stand out, especially for a team that returns just one scholarship player from last year.
Prince-Alexander Moody is an early fan favorite, and deservedly so
One nice aspect of exhibitions is that the freshmen normally get a good amount of playing time in the games. Indiana’s freshmen did not squander their opportunities on Wednesday.
Vaughn Karvala had six points, Trevor Manhertz added 10 of his own, but freshman guard Prince-Alexander Moody made an early name for himself with the Indiana faithful. The guard had arguably the loudest ovation of the night when he was subbed out late in the fourth quarter.
There could be a number of reasons why he got that well deserved ovation.
Moody had numerous deflections and steals throughout the ballgame, was almost always in the right spot defensively and played under control the whole night. His instincts on the floor defensively really stood out, and the crowd let the freshmen know how much they appreciate strong defense inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Moody finished with five steals on the night.
It wasn’t just the defense that shined for the guard, he finished with 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting, and 2-for-4 from 3-point range on the night.
Indiana head coach Darian DeVries’ No. 1 thought on the young guard is how hard he plays.
“What I love about him is he just plays hard …that’s what gets you production, that’s what gets you on the floor,” DeVries said.
It was just a preseason exhibition, but Moody gave Indiana fans a lot to look forward to when he’s on the floor this season. DeVries touched on how that is nothing new for the young guard.
“Prince is what you saw tonight, that’s what he is everyday,” DeVries said.
Rebounding
Indiana fans know that rebound was a massive issue last year. The Hoosiers ranked 315th in the country in rebounds per game last year, and cost them numerous games down the stretch.
The rebounding was a factor that Indiana really looked into in the portal and landed both Aiden Sherrell and Samet Yigitoglu to try and help the poor rebounding numbers improve.
Indiana had a massive size advantage in the exhibition as team Canada did not have a player listed taller than 6-foot-7. The rebounding disparity in the first half did not represent that size advantage. The Hoosiers struggled to end possessions on the first shot attempt, and gave up multiple second chance looks in the opening half of play. Indiana got outrebounded in the first half by one.
The second half was a much more favorable total on the glass for Indiana, outrebounding Team Canada 28- 12. That total reflected on the scoreboard as well with the Hoosiers winning the second half by 20 points.
The second half rebounding numbers are more representative of what you want to see in an exhibition of this nature. As a team with a massive size advantage, there is a point of emphasis to make that felt in the game. With more pressure on the rebounding this year, the second half had some positive flashes on the boards.
Perimeter shooting
DeVries’ teams love to shoot the 3, last year the Hoosiers shot 28 3s a game. At times last year, the team lived or died by the 3-point shot.
The exhibition was no different.
There were a lot of 3-point shots, and a lot of offensive swings. Indiana shot just 5-for-18 from beyond the arc in the first half and 6-for-22 from 3 in the second half. That number is good for 27.5 percent.
While the percentage wasn’t great, the majority of the looks that Indiana got throughout the night were good, and shots you would anticipate turning into more makes closer to the start of the year with more game-like reps.
This is a team that along with the bigs, targeted shooting in the portal and will need to see the percentages from the 3-point line improve to find success throughout the season.
Overall, there is very little substance to take away from this exhibition game.
One, it's July, the season starts for real in October. Two, this team is almost an entirely new roster that hasn’t seen live game reps up until this game against a secondary school from Canada.
It’s a brand new season with a lot to be excited about and a lot to still be tuned up before the season starts.
Indiana will be in action again in the FISU America games at some point next week, with the tournament ranging from July 20 through Aug. 1.
