Indiana
Numbers that stand out from Indiana basketball's three Battle 4 Atlantis games
Indiana finished a disappointing 1-2 in three games last week in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
Here are numbers that stand out from IU’s play over three days on Paradise Island:
Indiana took 24 fewer 3-pointers than its opponents
Over three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis, the Hoosiers attempted 53 3-pointers or 17.6 per game.
Its three opponents – Louisville, Gonzaga and Providence – attempted 77 or 25.6 per game.
As of Monday morning, Indiana ranks 350th out of 364 Division I programs in 3PA/FGA, which measures the percentage of a team’s field goals that are 3-point attempts.
Just over a month ago, after an exhibition win at Tennessee, Mike Woodson told reporters that his team had been attempting 27 or 28 3-pointers in intrasquad scrimmages in the preseason. Through seven regular-season games, the Hoosiers have not attempted more than 20 3-pointers in one game.
Defensive rebounding remains a glaring issue
Indiana’s defensive rebounding was poor last season, and so far, it’s worse this season.
The Hoosiers surrendered 41 offensive rebounds and 47 second-chance points in the Bahamas.
Indiana finished last season as the nation’s 211th-best defensive-rebounding team. According to KenPom, it currently ranks 292nd nationally in defensive rebounding percentage.
According to KenPom, the Hoosiers rank fifth in average height among Division I teams. So, despite having one of the nation’s tallest teams, Indiana is among the bottom 75 teams in the country in cleaning up the defensive glass.
Indiana’s 2-point field goal percentage defense was poor
While IU’s overall 2-point field goal percentage defense ranks a respectable – but not great – 121st in the country as of today, the numbers in the Bahamas were poor.
Louisville, Gonzaga and Providence combined to shoot 67-for-116 on 2s against the Hoosiers or 57.8 percent.
All three teams scored at least 1.1 points per possession against the Hoosiers, including Providence, which is 131st nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency according to KenPom.
Free throw shooting percentage has been a strength for Indiana
Despite its poor 1-2 seventh place finish at the Battle 4 Atlantis, Indiana has shown early season improvement from the free throw line.
In three games in the Bahamas, Indiana went 44-for-59 (74.5 percent) from the free throw line.
Through seven regular season games, the Hoosiers are 107-for-137 (78.1 percent) at the line. As of Monday morning, Indiana ranks 33rd in the country in free throw shooting percentage.
Indiana has not finished a season ranked in the top 100 nationally in free-throw shooting percentage since 2016-17, Tom Crean’s last season in Bloomington.
Indiana damaged its computer rankings with two blowout losses
The Hoosiers tipped off Battle 4 Atlantis as the 38th-ranked team in KenPom, a slight improvement from its beginning-of-season ranking of 42.
By the end of Wednesday’s blowout 89-61 loss to Louisville, Indiana was No. 60 in KenPom.
After two more games – a loss to Gonzaga and a win against Providence – Indiana moved back up to No. 53 nationally.
The NCAA released its first NET rankings on Monday and Indiana is ranked No. 71 in the first edition. These rankings are heavily considered in the tournament selection process.
Filed to: Battle 4 Atlantis
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BLOOMINGTON — Whatever he can.
That’s the answer. The question — one prompted by an urgency to add strength to his game — is what Vaughn Karvala, Indiana basketball’s athletic freshman wing, is doing to add weight. IU’s highest-ranked signee in the 2026 class, it’s not hard to envision a role for Karvala in Darian DeVries’ second season in Bloomington. The player himself knows that starts with meeting the physical demands of the college game.
Which starts with building onto to his 6-foot-7, 190-pound frame.
“The biggest thing for me is just putting on weight,” Karvala told reporters after practice Thursday. “That’s my biggest thing, getting stronger, trying to play with these guys that are three, four years older than me. I have to get stronger, I have to get faster, everything.”
A three-year letter winner at Oregon (Wisconsin) High School, Karvala spent his senior season at Bella Vista Prep in Arizona, bolstering a profile that saw him ranked No. 62 nationally per the 247Sports Composite.
Karvala averaged 26.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in his final season with Oregon, shooting close to 42% from behind the 3-point line. He averaged another 14.7 points per game with Team Herro on the EYBL circuit.
He handed DeVries a major recruiting win last fall, when Karvala picked the Hoosiers over Xavier and Cal. Now, both at the rim and behind the arc, Karvala looks like a player who can contribute meaningfully in his first year in college.
“I know my athleticism catches the eye, but I can still shoot it,” Karvala said. “But another thing is just working on rebounding, trying to get extra possessions for us.”
Whether on the glass or elsewhere, embracing the physical challenge of college basketball has been an emphasis for Karvala since he arrived in Bloomington earlier this summer.
That manifests itself offensively, when he tries to push the ball downhill and leverage that athleticism to attack the rim. It shows up defensively, where Karvala said he’s comfortable guarding the two, the three and, matchup depending, the four.
It even plays out on the glass, battling bigs up to including 7-2 teammate Samet Yigitoglu, who Karvala described with a smile as “the biggest guy I’ve ever seen.”
“Physicality, 100%,” Karvala said, when asked where he’s challenging himself. “Just playing with all these guys that have 20, 30, 40 pounds on me.”
Which starts with the physical demand of more weight. Karvala said he’ll eat chicken, steak or “whatever we have in the locker room” that can help him in that effort. His focus, he said, is simply to “eat a lot, and work out every day.”
As that weight and strength begin to build, Karvala knows the next step — to mentally prepare for the rough-and-tumble nature of life on the floor in the Big Ten — is just as important. Preparing his body comes first. Challenging himself to toughen up once it’s required follows quickly after.
“Just getting fully there, mentally,” he said. “You’re going to have to push your body to get through this.”
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KOSCIUSKO COUNTY, Ind. (WSBT) — It’s fair season and a new law uncorks adult beverage sales!
The new Indiana law will go into effect July 1st, making it legal to sell alcohol at county fairs.
The Kosciusko County Fair is set to kick off in just a few weeks and Indiana is officially allowing alcohol to be sold.
The law is bringing back something that’s not necessarily new to this fair.
Here’s what you need to know
The new law will go into effect on July 1st. It officially allows county fairs to apply for fee-free permits to sell alcohol.
Officials with the Kosciusko County Fair say they are participating this year. They are implementing the same guidelines they used when they sold alcohol just at grandstand events.
The difference now is, you can walk around the grounds with your drink. But strict guidelines will be in place for purchasing a drink.
“Actually, we’ve never had any issues. Because we card everybody, so we take that seriously. We also got the ID guides so we can identify the different types of IDs,” said Sheal Dirck, Treasurer of Kosciusko County Fair.
The Kosciusko County Fair already have guidelines in place, so this was an easy transition for the fair.
They will be the only vendors selling alcohol, which will make it easier to control distribution.
The sales will also bring in more revenue.
“Hopefully it allows to keep our ticket prices where they are because right now, insurance, utilities and everything else is going sky high and it’s hard to make ends meet,” said Dirck.
However, some fairs cannot participate because of the July 1st start date, like the Pulaski County Fair, which is going on right now. Pulaski County officials said it is on the agenda for next year. Whereas other fairs are choosing to sit this year out.
“We wanted not spend some time to, to see what that really means for us. It was not a decision we wanted to rush into. But we are happy for the option of it,” said Shelly Steury, GM of Elkhart County 4H Fairgrounds.
Leaders at the St. Joseph County and Elkhart County Fairs said neither of them are selling alcohol.
The Kosciusko County Fair is the only fair that will sell alcohol in our area this year.
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