The University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team stumbled in its exhibition opener at Indiana University, 96-62, Thursday evening in Bloomington, Indiana.
USI was stymied by the Indiana defense for most of the first half and trailed at the intermission, 39-20. The Eagles were limited to 25 percent from the field (7-28) in the opening half.
The Screaming Eagles’ newcomers led the way in the first half with sophomore forward Josh Price (Indianapolis, Indiana) and junior guard/forward Kobe Caldwell (Bowling Green, Kentucky), pacing the team with eight points and seven points, respectively, Junior forward Hugues Mbumba (Lubumbashi, Congo) had a team-best five rebounds to lead on glass.
USI found some rhythm offensively in the second half, shooting 45 percent from the field (15-33), but could not find the answer on defense as the Hoosiers were red hot, shooting 60 percent (21-35) from outside. USI also battled on the glass with Hoosier posting a slight, 19-16 advantage.
The 19-point first half deficit would shrink to 17 points in the opening moments of the second half, 49-32, but would be as close as the Eagles would come the rest of the way.
For the game, USI was shot 36.1 percent from the field (22-61) and only lost the rebounding battle by three, 39-36.
Individually, USI senior guard Nate Hansen (Evansville, Indiana) led USI scorers with 13 points, dropping in 11 during the second half. Hansen finished the game five-of-10 from the field and three-of-six from long range.
Caldwell followed Hansen the in the scoring column with 11 points, while senior guard Alex Stein(Evansville, Indiana) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.
On the glass, Mbumba reached double digits with 10 rebounds to lead the squad. Sophomore forward Emmanuel Little (Indianapolis, Indiana) was second on the squad with six boards.
The Eagles conclude the exhibition slate Saturday at 3 p.m. (CST) when they travel to Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. The exhibition game will be the first meeting between the two programs in men’s basketball.
