Darren Harris scored 15 of 23 points in the first half to help Indiana roll past Bellarmine 92-69 on Thursday in Bloomington, Ind.
The Hoosiers (2-0) used a 14-2 run over a five-minute stretch to jump out a to a 22-7 lead, with Harris’ 3-pointer capping the spurt with 9:11 remaining in the first half. They also enjoyed a 10-2 run over the final 2:31 of the half to take a 50-26 advantage into the locker room.
Indiana shot 57.1% (16-for-28) in the opening 20 minutes, with Harris, a transfer from Duke, making 4 of 7 shots overall and 3 of 6 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Bryce Lindsay, who played at Villanova last season, added 13 of his 15 in the first half and dished out four assists. Sam Alexis and Aiden Sherrell each finished with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting and six rebounds.
Strong play both inside and out allowed the Hoosiers to pull away. They outrebounded the Knights (0-2), an Atlantic Sun school based in Louisville, Ky., by a 42-26 margin and converted 18 offensive rebounds into 21 second-chance points. Indiana hit on 50% of its field goals overall and 12 of 34 3-point attempts, with Harris finishing 5-for-10 from the perimeter and Lindsay making three of his 10 tries.
The Knights, meanwhile, shot 48.1% from the floor. They went 6-for-18 from the perimeter but just 1-for-7 in the first half and missed six straight during a nearly 12-minute stretch in the second half.
Tyler Doyle led the Knights with 12 points, and Jacob Wassler added 10.
Bellarmine used 3-pointers by Grant Whitaker and Sam Donald early in the second half to kickstart a 12-3 run and whittle the deficit to 19.
It stayed between 20 and 25 for much of the half, but soon Indiana built its largest lead at 84-54 points following Lindsay’s layup at the 4:15 mark, at which point both teams emptied their benches.