Playing with a nearly new roster for the 2026-27 season, Eastern Illinois men's basketball had solid stretches of play before eventually falling 91-57 at Indiana in the season opener on Monday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
The Panthers were solid in the opening 12 minutes of the first half trailing 21-19 with 10:19 to play in the first half with solid minutes by freshman
Jayden Wright. Wright scored seven points with two rebounds and two assists during his first stint on the floor.
EIU would hit a cold streak from the floor after getting within two as IU went on an 18-0 run with the Panthers going nearly nine minutes without scoring late in the first half.Â
Tanner Vogel snapped the cold streak with free throws with 30 seconds left in the half as Indiana led 44-23 at the half.
Tanner Vogel finished with eight points and seven rebounds. The Hoosiers won the battle on the glass with a 34-26 edge including 13 offensive rebounds leading to 15 second chance points.
Demar Burton was the Panthers leading scorer with ten points going 4-of-8 from the floor. As a team EIU finished the night shooting 50 percent including 16-of-29 in the second half (55.2 pct).Â
Daniel Ntambwe added eight points for the Panthers who play at Iowa on Friday night.
Markus Burton carried the Hoosiers offense most of the night scoring 19 points. Bryce Lindsay added 14 going 3-of-5 from 3-point range where Indiana went 9-of-24 in the game.