Bloomington, Indiana: Hoosiers Beat Eastern Illinois 91-57 as Burton Scores 19 in Debut

Indiana opened its season on Monday night in Bloomington with a 91-57 win over Eastern Illinois at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, and the game turned on a defensive stretch late in the first half. The Hoosiers held the Panthers scoreless for more than nine minutes, built a 44-23 halftime lead and were never threatened again.

Burton runs the opener

Notre Dame transfer Markus Burton scored a team-high 19 points in his Indiana debut. He made 7 of 8 shots, hit three 3-pointers and handed out five assists against one turnover. During the run that broke the game open, Burton scored three points and set up Trent Sisley and Sam Alexis for dunks, including a bounce pass to Sisley that pushed the lead to 28-21 and brought the Assembly Hall crowd to its feet.

Villanova transfer Bryce Lindsay added 14 points off the bench and freshman Trevor Manhertz scored 11. Indiana shot 50 percent from the field and made 9 of 24 3-pointers. The Hoosiers expanded the lead to as many as 38 points when Manhertz hit a 3-pointer with 1:12 left in the game.

Defense and the glass

Eastern Illinois stayed close for 10 minutes. Jayden Wright hit a jumper and a 3-pointer in a 10-point burst in 1:39 that cut the Indiana lead to 21-19, and Devin Davenport made it 24-21 with 9:45 left in the first half. The Panthers did not score again until Tanner Vogel made two free throws with 30 seconds left in the half, by which time Indiana had run off an 18-0 stretch and led 42-21.

Indiana forced 22 turnovers, the most by an Indiana opponent since 2021, and turned them into 29 points. The Hoosiers won the rebounding battle 34-26, held a 13-5 edge on the offensive glass and outscored the Panthers 15-3 in second-chance points. Indiana also went 24 of 32 at the free throw line and outscored Eastern Illinois by 20 points at the stripe.

Size inside

Starting big men Aiden Sherrell and Samet Yigitoglu combined for 17 points and 13 rebounds. Yigitoglu, a 7-foot-2 transfer from SMU, had eight points and a game-high seven rebounds in 18 minutes.

Demar Burton led Eastern Illinois with 10 points. The Panthers shot 50 percent from the field but fell to 0-1 under head coach Marty Simmons, a former Hoosier. Indiana, in its second season under Darian DeVries, improved to 1-0 and stays home to host Bellarmine on Thursday, Nov. 5.