Indianapolis, Indiana: Hoosiers Hold Off Syracuse 83-80 as Harris and Burton Score 20 Each

Indiana held off Syracuse 83-80 on Monday night, November 9, 2026, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, in a nonconference game that swung back and forth until the final seconds.

Darren Harris scored 20 points, 14 of them in the second half, and Markus Burton added 20 for the Hoosiers (3-0). Jaeden Mustaf scored 18, Bryce Lindsay added 11 off the bench, and Samet Yigitoglu had eight points and 10 rebounds. The win snapped a six-game Indiana losing streak against Syracuse that ran back to the Hoosiers' win in the 1987 NCAA Tournament championship game.

Syracuse (2-1) led 38-34 at halftime behind 5-for-9 shooting from three-point range. Harris took over at the start of the second half. He hit a corner three on the opening possession, drew a foul on another three-point try and made all three free throws, then stole a pass and finished with a dunk. The personal 8-0 run took 69 seconds and put Indiana ahead 42-38.

The Orange needed eight minutes to catch up. Freshman guard Ryan Moesch, who led Syracuse with 19 points and six assists off the bench, finished a layup over the 7-foot-2 Yigitoglu for a three-point play that tied the game 54-54 with 10:43 to play. Syracuse pushed ahead 66-61 with under seven minutes left after a disputed foul call on Harris, whose replay showed no contact on a missed three by Kiyan Anthony. Anthony made all three free throws, and the call drew loud protests from the home crowd and the Indiana bench.

Indiana answered with back-to-back threes from Burton and Mustaf, and Lindsay made two free throws to give the Hoosiers a 69-68 lead with 4:10 left, a lead they did not give back. The game was tied 11 times and the lead changed hands 13 times.

Harris broke the final tie at the foul line. Fouled on a three-point attempt with 1:14 to play, he made all three shots for a 77-74 lead and finished the night 10-for-10 from the line. Indiana made seven straight free throws in the closing stretch, and Lindsay's two with 12 seconds left stretched the margin to 83-78. Sadiq White Jr., who scored 13 for Syracuse, cut it to three with four seconds left. Anthony, who scored 16 off the bench, had the last look, a deep three near the sideline that missed as time ran out. Harris grabbed the rebound.

Indiana won the rebounding battle 37-28, with 14 offensive rebounds that turned into 12 second-chance points. The Hoosiers, coached by Darian DeVries, are 3-0 and return to Bloomington to host Tennessee Tech on Thursday night. Syracuse, in its first season under coach Gerry McNamara, fell to 2-1.