COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 17: Head coach Tobin Anderson of the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights reacts during the first half of a game against the Purdue Boilermakers in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 17, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) | Getty Images
COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 17: Head coach Tobin Anderson of the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights reacts during the first half of a game against the Purdue Boilermakers in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 17, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) | Getty Images · Getty Images

Indiana men’s basketball is set for its fourth game of the 2026-27 season, taking on Tennessee Tech on Thursday evening back home at Assembly Hall.

The Hoosiers notched dominant victories over Eastern Illinois and Bellarmine to open the season before making the short trip north for a very weird 83-80 win over Syracuse at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. It’s entirely too early in the season to declare this group poor or ill-equipped, but that game did surface some very real issues that could use correcting sooner rather than later.

With those issues in mine, here’s three things to watch for against the Golden Eagles.

Can the bigs get more involved offensively?

Samet Yigitoglu and Aiden Sherrell, Indiana’s duo of starting 7-footers at center and power forward, combined for just 14 points against Syracuse on Monday evening.

Yigitoglu mostly took his points as they came to him, choosing his spots carefully without a ton of looks drawn up for him to score, so his 8 points weren’t all that surprising. What was surprising was Sherrell’s 6 point effort. As the more offensively inclined of the two, you’d like to see Sherrell find more ways to get the ball in the basket than he did against the Orange.

It’s worth noting that he picked up two early fouls and had to sit before struggling to find his place in the game from there and made the most of the two shots he took, but six points isn’t enough for a player of Sherrell’s caliber.

Look to see how, and if, the staff finds ways to use all that size when the Hoosiers have the ball.

Tobin Anderson

Tobin Anderson, the architect of 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson’s legendary first round upset of 1-seed Purdue in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, leads Tennessee Tech into Assembly Hall.

You may remember that Anderson turned that performance at Fairleigh Dickinson into the head coaching job at Iona when Rick Pitino left to take the St. John’s job. Well, the Gaels gave Anderson just two seasons before showing him the door after 2024-25. He landed at Tennessee Tech this past offseason.

Anderson is decidedly a good coach, you don’t pull off that upset without being one, so that’s gonna be something to watch here. His Golden Eagles are coming off of a 97-94 win over the same Western Kentucky team that gave Indiana some fits in exhibition play a few weeks back.

How will the defense perform?

Speaking of Anderson’s coaching ability, his Tennessee Tech team has already given a high-major foe some fits here early.

The Golden Eagles managed 88 points on the road at Mississippi State to open the season. That’s no small feat at all against a Chris Jans defense. They scored 117 points in a non Division-I win over Blue Mountain Christian University and then the aforementioned 97 points in a win over Western Kentucky.

Indiana’s defense looked pretty lackluster against Syracuse, which kept the Hoosiers from building up any of the slim leads they managed throughout the matchup. Can the staff fix those leaks or will Anderson find ways to exploit it just like Gerry McNamara did?

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Source: Yahoo Sports