INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana fell to 1-2 on the season after a 56-46 loss to Butler Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
The Hoosiers shot 34% from the field and turned the ball over 16 times, leading to their second straight loss.
Here’s what coach Teri Moren and senior guard Sydney Parrish said after the loss.
Opening statement
Advertisement
Moren: “Disappointed once again. “Some of our issues continue to be some of our issues. We’re not taking care of the ball. We’re not shooting the ball particularly well. I thought, defensively, there were moments that we were really good, but we couldn’t finish plays, gave up 11 offensive rebounds. I thought Butler, give them credit, they played with a greater sense of urgency, which we knew that they would. We’re not naive to think that teams like Butler, like Harvard aren’t gonna gives their very best. So give them credit. I thought they played well tonight. We did not. We still have a lot of things that we have to work on in order for us to continue to get better and want to do the things we want to do. Once again, disappointed, but I still love this group and I think that we have a ton of potential. We’re just having to work through some things right now, so we’re gonna continue to fight and get back to Bloomington and continue to do that work that’s required and know that we know that we need to play better than we have been playing and we will.”
On if the team’s lack of urgency is more concerning than its shooting woes…
Moren: “Well I mean, you have to play with a level of urgency and especially coming off the loss to Harvard. So it’s disappointing that that lacked tonight, because it’s always – I used the word perplexing last time, too. But I’d say we had a great shootaround this afternoon, kids were locked in, had tremendous energy. The six days off were good for us. We could go back and watch a lot of film, talk to them about how much better we needed to be. They were receptive to that, and it’s just disappointing that we came in here tonight and had moments where, you know, we had the lead, then let it go and then just down the stretch there couldn’t get the stops we needed and/or the scores.”
On why the team has had so many simple turnovers…
Moren: “It’s a good question. I want everybody to keep in mind we are short the two guards, with Lexi and Beau, so those guards – Shay and Chloe and Yarden – are playing a lot of minutes for us out on the perimeter and they do a lot of chasing around with teams like Butler that run a lot of actions. So whether you want to call it focus, lack of, or fatique creeps in, but we still I think are mature enough and old enough to know better and know how important taking care of the ball is.”
Advertisement
On how surprised they are at the last two games based on Indiana’s past success…
Moren: “Let’s don’t get ahead of ourselves. It’s only game three now.”
Parrish: “It’s game three. We’re fine. It’s game three. It sucks. It hurts. It hurt last game. We’re about to face a really good Stanford team, and we gotta be better.”
On Butler’s defensive pressure on the perimeter taking Indiana out of its offense…
Moren: “Absolutely, and I think Harvard did the same thing. We just talked to the kids about it, and that is so bothersome to our staff and I know our players. You could use the term soft. You could use it. That’s part of the game plan for Indiana, is to be super physical with our guards. They don’t like that. But we have to recognize that, and we gotta bow up and be better. We just gotta be tougher. We gotta be more physical, embrace it, and realize that’s what teams are doing to us. They really try to be physical, especially in the first couple minutes of the game, and it’s really stifling. They stifled us. So yeah, it’s a problem.”
Advertisement
On how Indiana will go about fixing offensive struggles…
Moren: “We gotta remain confident, right, that we still have an old team, and the things that we have in, we gotta, offensively, look a lot better. Again, it starts with taking care of the ball. It starts with embracing the physicality. But it starts with we gotta shoot the ball better. We had some great looks tonight that just didn’t go down. You know, when was the last time this group had six assists and shot 34%, 35 from the 3-point line. We have a – we’re not connecting right now on shots. It’s a hard game when you can’t score. It’s a hard game.”
On how much of an adjustment it’s been to play without Mackenzie Holmes…
Moren: “Well, certainly you miss Mackenzie, but I miss Sara Scalia too, right. Lilly has to be better. Striplin has to be better. There’s no other way to say it. Those two have to be better for us. We have to have great balance. We have to have an inside presence, and Lilly, this was not one of her best games and she knows that. But Strip has to give us something, too, when we go to our bench.
On how Indiana can stay positive after this loss…
Advertisement
Parrish: “We talk a lot in the locker room, so that’s good. Make sure we hold people accountable when it’s needed. At the end of the day, like coach said, we have to shoot better. We know that. We’re due. I’m due. Lilly knows she has to be better. Our guards know that we have to take care of the ball better. But we also have to get stops and offensive rebounds, and that’s just hustle and grit and playing tough, and we don’t want that to be our identity as a team. I think in the past, people have been scared to play us because of how gritty and tough we are and how we’ll knock people on their butts and blocked people out and push it. And I don’t think we saw that tonight. But it starts with Chloe and I being leaders of this team, shooting it much better, facilitating it much better, boxing out. I had a huge loss of a box out at the end of a free throw. It’s all of us. But we’re gonna stay together, we’re gonna be good, and we’re excited to show everyone that we can bounce back.”
On her approach to being a leader during the team’s slow start…
Parrish: “Yeah, I think there’s also so much we can say, but also Yarden, Karoline, Shay, they’ve played three-plus years of college basketball in the SEC, the Big Ten. We’re a veteran group and this should really make us mad, because we are so much better than that. So much better than that.”
The Indiana Pacers are a team to watch as a seller in the upcoming trade deadline.
Before Feb. 5, the Pacers should be expected to move at least one player and possibly more. Some members of the Indiana Pacers On SI staff pondered which player would be the likeliest to be traded.
Ethan J. Skolnick
Advertisement
Indiana has only two players earning more than $20 million, and one won’t be moved under any circumstances (Tyrese Haliburton) and another (Pascal Siakam) is likely staying unless Indiana is blown away. Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith seem to be parts of the future.
So the most likely candidates would seem to be Obi Tobbin (a pending free agent making $14 million) and TJ McConnell (on an extension paying him $11 million). As valuable as McConnell has been for the Pacers, he still could have value to one of this season’s contenders, so we will go with him as an option to land a future pick and younger option.
Advertisement
Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin in the second half against the San Antonio Spurs. | Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Jeremy Brener
The Pacers are in a unique position in their gap year with Tyrese Haliburton out with a torn Achilles. The team is absolutely plummeted to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, making them a seller at this year’s trade deadline. However, there’s no clear cut answer as to who they could part ways with because they are trying to contend next season.
Most of the roster is either injured or too valuable to trade at this moment in time. If there’s anyone that doesn’t fit either bill, it could be third-year forward Jarace Walker. If the team is not pleased with Walker’s progress before February, the Pacers may look to move him if there is a decent trade offer between now and then.
Advertisement
Tony Mejia
Indiana’s largest financial commitments are tied to injured point guard Tyrese Haliburton and versatile forward Pascal Siakam, so I wouldn’t expect too big a splash.
If the Pacers are looking to trim salary or change things up on the heels of their first Finals appearance in a quarter-century with Haliburton sidelined, the two most likely players they can move are wing Bennedict Mathurin and backup guard T.J. McConnell.
Mathurin’s rookie deal is coming to an end, while McConnell’s savvy and playoff experience could make him attractive to contenders looking to add a proven commodity who can add a spark off the bench.
Advertisement
More Indiana Pacers On SI Stories
Indiana Pacers could trade for player to help Tyrese Haliburton
Five questions ahead of Wizards vs. Pacers
Indiana Pacers struggle mightily in loss vs. Washington Wizards
Advertisement
Pascal Siakam, Pacers reach shocking new low in NBA power rankings
Advertisement
Five questions ahead of New York Knicks vs. Indiana Pacers
Alabama football completed Step 1. The Crimson Tide beat Oklahoma 34-24 on Friday, earning its first College Football Playoff victory.
With the first round completed, UA has a tougher test ahead. No. 1 Indiana awaits in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal, on Jan. 1 in Pasadena. As Alabama celebrates its victory and begins to prepare, here’s what to know about the 13-0 Hoosiers.
The coach
To say that Curt Cignetti has done a good job at Indiana is perhaps college football’s largest understatement. Cignetti, who took over last season, has turned the Big Ten’s ultimate doormat into the nation’s top team.
Cignetti joined up from James Madison before the 2024 season. He immediately took a program that had grown stale under Tom Allen to the CFP, then turned around and did even better this year.
Advertisement
“I just know that winning lifts all boats,” Cignetti said after the playoff field was announced. “In terms of fan support in the stadium, donations, all parts of the university, downtown when you pack the stadium, bring a lot of people to Bloomington, it helps their sales. A lot of pride in Hoosier Nation. The largest alumni base in America, over 800,000 people. I’d say right now the arrow is pointing up. We probably got a lot of momentum going in those kind of areas.”
Cignetti has a connection to Alabama as well. He worked as the Crimson Tide’s wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator under Nick Saban from 2007 through 2011, helping set the groundwork for Saban’s dynasty in Tuscaloosa.
In addition to Indiana in James Madison, he was a head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Elon after leaving the Tide.
The quarterback
For the first time in program history, Indiana has a Heisman Trophy winner. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza beat out a group of finalists that included Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin.
Mendoza has thrown for 2,980 yards this season, with 33 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has completed 226 of his 316 passes so far.
Advertisement
“Our focus right now is winning the College Football Playoff,” Mendoza told reporters Monday in Bloomington. “That’s what would make this trophy so much sweeter. I believe this trophy is a little bit of a push of confidence on us, on the team, that we’re making history for the IU team in history to be 13-0 and also to bring home a Heisman Trophy to Bloomington.”
The junior, who hails from Florida, transferred into Indiana from Cal this year. He spent two seasons in Berkeley before joining the Hoosiers.
The season
Indiana was the losingest program in the Football Bowl Subdivision entering this season. Some predicted it would be a step back for the Hoosiers, who lost several key players from last season’s playoff team.
Instead, IU won its first Big Ten title since 1967. It enters the CFP undefeated.
“I think that if we hooked everybody up in this room on a lie detector test and told them, hey, do you think Fernando Mendoza is going to win the Heisman this year and we’re going to be 13-0, Big Ten champs, the team has a lot of self-belief and unwavering belief, but I think it’s tough to make those predictions,” Mendoza said Monday.
Advertisement
To cap off the season, Indiana, which had faced criticism for its strength of schedule throughout the year, pulled off a huge upset in Indianapolis. The Hoosiers beat then No. 1 Ohio State, earning the top seed in the CFP and a spot in the Rose Bowl.
Months after being named the 2024 Indiana Thoroughbred Owner’s and Breeder’s Association’s Horse of the Year for 2024, multiple stakes winner Demolisher was euthanized after a bout with laminitis.
“We went from the highest highs as Indiana Horse of the Year to the lowest low ever when we had to say goodbye,” said Resia Ayres, who bred and raced Demolisher with husband Ken.
Unraced at 2, Demolisher proved worth the wait as he won the first five starts of his career in 2024, topped by stakes wins in the Governor’s Handicap and the To Much Coffee Handicap. All five of those wins came at Horseshoe Indianapolis. He closed out the season with an unplaced start in the Bryan Station Stakes (G3T) at Keeneland.
In March the son of Dominus was honored as ITOBA’s top Indiana-bred 3-year-old male and its Horse of the Year.
Advertisement
“It’s about as high as we ever expected to have any of our horses,” Ken Ayres said at the time. “It’s hard to put words to it. Obviously, we’re super excited about it.”
