Indiana
Tennessee vs. Indiana: Game information, lineups, notes
It won’t count, there will be a bit of a clearer picture of what Tennessee men’s basketball could be in 2024-25 on Sunday.
For the second-straight year, the preseason No. 12 Vols will play in a high-profile charity exhibition against Indiana at Food City Center, one week before officially opening their season.
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Tennessee lost a number of key pieces from its SEC title and NCAA Tournament Elite Eight run last season, including prolific scorer Dalton Knecht and veterans Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James.
The Vols return standouts guards Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack, not the unquestioned leaders of the team while Jordan Gainey, Cam Carr, JP Estrella, Cade Phillips are expected to take on bigger roles after contributing a year ago.
The exhibition, which will benefit the John McLendon Foundation, will also serve as a first look at some Tennessee newcomers.
After the record-shattering season that Knecht had, Rick Barnes dipped into the transfer portal to pull another proven scorer in Chaz Lanier, who averaged more than 19 points per game at North Florida last season.
Tennessee replaced two bigs in Jonas Aidoo and Tobe Awaka, who both transferred out of the program during the offseason, with 6-foot-11 forward Felix Okpara (Ohio State) and 6-10 Igor Milicic Jr. (Charlotte). Both players averaged 6.4 and 8.5 rebounds last season, respectively.
“It’s a little bit of everything in terms of consistency,” Barnes said. “What we talk about, you’re trying to execute the fundamentals of the game whether its passing, fighting for your space on the floor, rebounding both ways. Defensively, early gaps, getting there, doing your job, doing your work early. Certainly don’t want us to be the best we’re going to be right now but just knowing each day that you’ve got to continue to build in the areas you’ve got to get better in.”
It won’t be the first time that Tennessee has played a Big Ten team in an exhibition game. This time last season, the Vols beat then-preseason No. 4 Michigan State in East Lansing in a game that was headlined by two transfers in Knecht and Gainey.
The Spartans went on to reach the NCAA Tournament Round of 32.
Indiana, which is entering its fifth season under head coach Mike Woodson, missed out on the postseason in 2023-24, finishing 19-14 overall and 10-10 in league play. The Hoosiers return 6-9 forward Mackenzie Mgbako, Big Ten co-Freshman of the Year selection after averaging 12.7 points and 4.1 rebounds and guard Malik Reneau, the team’s returning leading scorer with 15.4 points per game.
Like Tennessee, Indiana will likely lean on a few new transfer additions, guard Myles Rice (Washington State) and 7-0 center Oumar Ballo (Arizona) among them.
Who: Indiana at No. 12 Tennessee
When: Sunday, Oct. 27 | 3 p.m. ET
Where: Food City Center | Knoxville
TV: SEC Network+ (Roger Hoover, play-by-play; Steve Hamer, analyst; Sarah Detwiler, reporter)
2023-24 season: Tennessee, 27-9 (NCAA Tournament Elite Eight) Indiana, 19-14 (did not make postseason)
Series: Indiana leads, 4-0
— The status of two players, including one starter is uncertain for Tennessee ahead of the exhibition. Rick Barnes said earlier this week that starting guard Jahmai Mashack and forward JP Estrella banged knees in practice and will be monitored. Barnes expected both players to play limited roles in practice on Friday.
— Tennessee and Indiana have played just four previous times, all at neutral sites with three games taking place in the postseason between 1967 and 1985. The Vols are 34-44 vs. Big Ten team all time and a commanding 87-18 in exhibition games.
MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Rick Barnes talks Indiana exhibition expectations
— Tennessee is playing a Division I team in an exhibition game for the third-straight year. The Vols previously beat preseason No. 2 Gonzaga at a neutral site in Texas in 2022 and No. 4 Michigan State in East Lansing last season, contributing to their 25 exhibition game win streak.
— Tennessee is slated to return just one starter from its SEC title and Elite Eight run in 2023-24 in senior guard Zakai Zeigler, who averaged 11.8 points and 6.1 assists. The Vols’ four transfers, though combined for 3,356 points in 372 total games in their college careers.
PLAINFIELD, Ind. (WISH) — Suspects fled a Plainfield bank after it was robbed Tuesday afternoon, police say.
Plainfield Police Department was called at 2:10 p.m. Tuesday to the robbery of a bank in progress at Chase Bank, 807 Southfield Drive. That’s southwest of the intersection of Quaker Boulevard and Stafford Road/East County Road 450 South in the Hendricks County town.
Deputy Chief Ryan Salisbury of the Plainfield Police Department said detectives were working on the case.
The police department posted on social media on Tuesday night that no one was hurt in the robbery, and the suspects, who were not in custody, fled prior to the arrival of first responders.
INDIANAPOLIS — Sophie Cunningham wants to emphasize she’s perfectly happy with the Indiana Fever. She just wishes she could be locked down longer.
Cunningham, who signed a one-year, $665,000 deal with the Indiana Fever for 2026, said on her podcast, “Show Me Something,” on Tuesday night that she was frustrated with the free agency process in the condensed offseason.
She shook her head vehemently when her co-host West Wilson asked if the contract was better than she thought it would be, then said in part, “It’s tough because I came off an injury … I’m not even going to lie to you, that’s a little, kind of, frustrating.”
Fans on social media largely took that as she did not get interest from other teams, she didn’t want to return to the Fever, or she was unhappy with the salary she got.
She shut those thoughts down on social media Monday night, then expounded on her frustrations with local media at Fever training camp on Tuesday morning.
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“I think Twitter kind of blew up last night about a comment I made on my podcast. But that wasn’t what I meant at all,” Cunningham said. “I think if you listen to the full clip, you really understand that I just wanted to be somewhere for more than one year. I’m almost 30 years old. I want to have a home. I want to get established. And I would love to get established in a place like Indiana.”
The Fever prioritized as much financial flexibility as possible this offseason because of the new EPIC clause, which allows both Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark to renegotiate their fourth-year salaries up to the max with an extension. Boston’s salary was bumped to $1 million in 2025, and she will make the supermax from 2027-29. Clark is eligible to negotiate up to the max in 2027, and both Clark and Boston could be making the supermax starting in 2028.
Only Lexie Hull and Monique Billings got major multi-year deals with the Fever out of free agency. Hull signed for $765,000 in 2026 and $803,250 in 2027, per Her Hoop Stats, while Billings got $800,000 for both 2026 and 2027. Damiris Dantas is the only other player that got a multi-year deal out of free agency, but that was for the minimum cap hit of $277,500.
Kelsey Mitchell signed a one-year, $1.4 million supermax, Cunningham returned on a one-year deal, and Myisha Hines-Allen and Tyasha Harris each signed one-year deals.
Cunningham added that she got multi-year offers from other teams, but chose to stay with Indiana on a one-year deal.
She wanted to return to Indiana, she said, because of friendships she created with her teammates and the potential they showed, even after six separate season-ending injuries on the roster. She is also closer to her hometown of Columbia, Missouri.
“When you find a group of girls who really make you fall in love with basketball games and you enjoy it, you enjoy them, not only on the court, but off the court, like, you want to hold on to that,” Cunningham said. “ … it was never about the money, it was just about the years, because I wanted to be with them. And God forbid a girl loves her teammates, you know what I mean?”
Cunningham is also coming off a major knee injury after she tore her MCL in August 2025. She was ruled out for the rest of the 2025 season and got surgery in Indianapolis, then had a six-month rehab process before she was cleared in February.
Since then, she has been ramping back up as much as possible, including playing one-on-one, three-on-three, plyometrics, and everything she does to get ready for a regular season.
Still, she said, she’ll need to actually play to get back into full basketball shape.
“Basketball shape is just different,” Cunningham said. “You can run as many suicides as you want, you can get your butt kicked however you want, but until you’re out here playing, you’re never fully going to be in game shape until you’re playing games.”
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at chloe.peterson@indystar.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. Subscribe to IndyStar TV: Fever for in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes coverage and more.
CLOVERDALE, Ind. (WKRC) – Authorities in Indiana found a semi trailer loaded up with hundreds of pounds of suspected cocaine.
According to a statement issued by the Indiana State Police (ISP), 27-year-old Harmandeep Singh of Bakersfield, California was taken into custody after nearly 400 pounds of suspected cocaine were reportedly found in the trailer of a commercial truck.
Per the statement, an ISP trooper seized the suspected cocaine during a traffic stop on Interstate 70 in Putnam County, authorities said.
The stop occurred Tuesday morning near the 37-mile marker, just east of Cloverdale, after a commercial motor vehicle was observed exceeding the posted speed limit.
Police said Singh displayed several indicators of possible criminal activity during the encounter. After obtaining consent to search the vehicle, troopers discovered multiple duffel bags and cardboard boxes in the trailer containing approximately 392 pounds (178 kilograms) of suspected cocaine.
Authorities estimated the street value of the drugs at about $9 million.
Singh was taken into custody and taken to the Putnam County Jail, where he is being held on a $30,000 cash bond.
He faces the following preliminary charges, per the post:
- Possession of a narcotic drug
Formal charges will be determined by the Putnam County prosecutor.
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Indiana State Police said drug interdiction remains a priority, with troopers focusing on major highways to disrupt the flow of illegal narcotics into the state.
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