By Nick Jenkinson-SCINN Sports Director
The Indiana Hoosiers are 2-0 after a 92-69 over the Bellarmine Knights Thursday night in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Indiana will face the Syracuse Orange on Monday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis at 6:30 PM on Fox Sports. Bellarmine is 0-2 on the season and will travel to Miami (Ohio) on Saturday at 5 PM. This was the first meeting between the two teams in the regular season, as the Hoosiers and Knights met three times in exhibition games over the years with Indiana winning all three of those meetings in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Indiana blew out the Knights 101-64 in 2004, 73-62 in 2015 and 73-49 in 2016.
Duke Transfer Darren Harris led Indiana with a career high of 23 points. The Junior from Herdon, Virginia went 6-11 from the field, 5-10 from three-point range, 6-8 from the free throw line with a rebound in 22 minutes of action. Harris had pervious high of 16 points in a 100-56 win at Notre Dame on February 24, 2026. This was the fourth double figure game of his career. Bryce Linsday scored 15 points and Aiden Sherrell and Sam Alexis scored 12 points apiece. Freshman Trevor Manhertz scored 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a block in 19 minutes off the bench.
The Hoosiers finished 31-62 from the field for 50%, 12-34 from three-point range for 35% and 18-25 from the free throw line for 72%. Indiana had 42 rebounds, 16 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks and 12 turnovers. The Hoosiers scored 46 bench points, 36 points in the paint, 21 second chance points, 20 points off turnovers and 13 fast break points.
Tyler Doyle scored 12 points to lead Bellarmine and Jacob Wassler added 10 points. The Knights have Indiana natives on the roster. Mason Darrell of Crown Point scored 8 points in 3 minutes, Evan Harrell of Carmel scored 6 points in 13 minutes, Julis Gizzi of New Palestine scored 6 points in 15 minutes, Brady Klopfenstein of Terre Haute North did not score in 3 minutes, and Tucker Tornatta of Evansville Harrison did not play.
The Knights were 25-52 from the field for 48%, 6-18 from three-point range for 33% and 13-20 from the free throw line for 65%. Bellarmine pulled down 26 rebounds, 12 assists, 8 steals, 0 blocks and 12 turnovers. The Knights had 36 points in the paint, 26 bench points, 15 points off turnovers, 6 second chance points and 6 fastbreak points.
Indiana never trailed in the game and led 50-26 at halftime. The Hoosiers had great ball movement, especially on the first possession leading to Harris opening the game with a three pointer. Head Coach Darian DeVries said after the game that he “likes his first half team from a defensive standpoint” as Bellarmine outscored Indiana 43-42 in the second half and “The first-half team’s been good. … I didn’t think our intensity in both the second halves defensively was up to our standard.”
Freshman Trevor Manhertz has been impressive scoring 11 points against Eastern Illinois and 9 against Bellarmine. The 6-9 Cary, North Carolina native has played 34 minutes so far off the bench and has made his claim to be a part of the Hoosiers rotation. “I’m really just trying to play defense. Offense will come but defense travels” Manhertz said after the game. Darren Harris added about his freshman teammate “He’s real versatile. Plays really hard and does everything on the floor. He’s grown a lot.”
Darren Harris did not have a lot of big games at Duke but in just his second game as an Indiana Hoosier he figured out what he needed to make it happen. “I looked at film, I know my shot better than anyone else … making little tweaks, making my follow through a little stronger, holding it a little longer. It worked.”
Darian DeVries talked about Seven-Footer Aiden Sherrell “What doesn’t show up in the box score is his versatility defensively. By the end of the year, people are going to be talking about him as one of the better defenders in our league.” and his defensive effort is going show up big time in the Big Ten and putting the rest of the league on notice.
The Hoosiers prepare for their first big test of the season against the Syracuse Orange a team the Hoosiers have lost six straight against and their only win against the Orange 74-73 in the 1987 National Championship Game in New Orleans, Louisiana when Keith Smart hit the game winning shot leading the Hoosiers to their fifth national championship in program history. This will be the first time that these two programs have met in the State of Indiana and the Hoosiers would love nothing more than take care of business and break a six game losing skid against Syracuse and they will get that chance on Monday Night in Indianapolis.