By Nick Jenkinson-SCINN Sports Director
The Indiana Hoosiers return to action this evening at 6:30 PM when they welcome the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall with the game televised on the Big Ten Network. The Hoosiers are 3-0 after an 83-80 win over the Syracuse Orange Monday Night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as part of the Bad Boy Mowers Series. The Hoosiers are averaging 88.6 points through the first three games of the season.
Indiana has four players averaging double figures with Darren Harris leading the way averaging 16.7 points per game. After scoring 7 points in the season opener against Eastern Illinois the Herndon, Virginia Native has scored 43 points in the last two games with a career high 23 points against Bellarmine and 20 points against Syracuse going 10-10 from the free throw line and sparking the Hoosiers to start the second half going on an 8-0 run by himself after the Hoosiers trailed at halftime.
Markus Burton is averaging 13.7 points, Bryce Linsday is averaging 13.3 points off the bench and already making a case for the Big Ten Conference Sixth Player of the Year. Jaeden Mustaf is averaging 10.3 points per game, and seven-footer Aiden Sherrell is averaging 9 points per game. Indiana shoots 47% from the field, 36% from three-point range and 77% from the free throw line.
Indiana is averaging 37.7 rebounds, 14.7 assists, 7.7 steals 2.3 blocks and 11.3 turnovers per game. In the Syracuse game Fourth-year guard Markus Burton and third-year guard Darren Harris each scored 20 points to lead the Hoosier offense. The backcourt duo combined to shoot 7-of-15 from behind the 3-point line and 13-of-13 from the free throw line to pair with seven assists and four steals. Third-year guard Jaeden Mustaf tallied 18 points (7-of-11 shooting from the floor) and seven rebounds in 33 minutes. Fourth-year guard Bryce Lindsay added 11 bench points.
Tennessee Tech is 2-1 on the season as the Golden Eagles lost at Mississippi State 106-88 in the season opener but bounce back to beat Blue Mountain Christian 117-70 and Western Kentucky 97-94 at home. Tennessee Tech has averaged 100.7 points and 15.0 made 3-pointers per game through three games. Sophomore wing Caleb Sanders leads Tennessee Tech with 18.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. Junior guard Cbo Newton (14.7), senior forward De’ante Green (14.3), fifth-year senior guard Trent Mosquera (12.3), freshman guard Kamai Samuels (11.7), and senior guard Caleb Hollenbeck (11.0) all post double-figure averages.
Head Coach Tobin Anderson is in his first season at Tennessee Tech an has an overall record of 444-241 with stops at Division III Clarkson and Hamilton along with Division II St. Thomas Aquinas. Anderson coached at Fairleigh Dickinson for one season in 2022-23 leading the 16 seed Knights to an upset of #1 Seed Purdue 63-58 in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament in Columbus, Ohio. The Knights lost to #9 Seed Florida Atlantic 78-70 as FAU went to the final four that season losing to San Diego State in the National Semifinals. Anderson went to Iona for two seasons from 2023-25 and spent the 2025-26 at South Florida as the special assistant to the head coach.
Tennessee Tech has 6-5 Senior Forward Shaun Arnold on the roster who is from Indianapolis and played at St Thomas Aquinas and the University of Indianapolis. Arnold has played all three games scoring 7 points, 9 rebounds, 10 assists and 9 steals. The Golden Eagles have a have a 15-player roster that represents Utah, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, South Dakota, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Florida, New York, Alabama and Canada. Tennessee Tech has 7 Seniors, 3 Juniors, 2 Sophomores and 3 Freshman.
Indiana has won all five of the previous matchups with Tennessee Tech and all of them in Bloomington. The Hoosiers are 17-0 against current members of the Southern Conference. The Hoosiers opened the 2020-21 season with an 89-59 victory over the Golden Eagles on Nov. 25, 2020, the last time the two sides met up. All-American forward Trayce Jackson-Davis put up 26 points and 11 rebounds in the victory. Indiana won 113-60 in 1974, 81-66 in 1993, 117-73 and 87-59 in 2018.
The Hoosiers have a big week next week with neutral site games against Arkansas in Madison Square Graden in New York City and Kentucky at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. With this game sandwiched in between after a nail biter against Syracuse it will be interesting to see how the Hoosiers come out and hopefully are not looking ahead to next week.