[6BS] IU Falls To Northwestern But Adds 2025 Recruit
Women Have Rough Week With Two Losses
Welcome to another edition of 6-Banner Sunday, a joint production between The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall, and presented by our friends at Homefield Apparel, where we highlight the five most essential IU basketball stories of the past week, plus take a look at how the other IU sports programs are doing.
Indiana’s play on the court continued to be less than stellar. However, off of it, they got much more positive news with a commitment for next season.
Besides this, readers will find information about women’s basketball struggling, Hoosiers in the NBA, and weekly shows. As usual, we will conclude with a look at other IU sports led by swimming and diving beating arch-rival Purdue.
The Assembly Call is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Here is what is in this week’s edition:
Hoosiers Fall To Northwestern
IU Adds 2025 Recruit
Women Fall To USC And Oregon
Hoosiers In The NBA
Weekly Shows
Hoosier Roundup-Swimming And Diving Dominates Rival Purdue
IU men’s basketball will play six games this season on Peacock and the women will play five contests on Peacock, making the streaming service a must-have for IU basketball fans. Sign up for Peacock using Inside the Hall’s link to help support the site and also enjoy Big Ten hoops all season long! In total, over 70 men's and women's games featuring Big Ten teams will air on Peacock this season (The link is an Inside the Hall affiliate link, so a commission will be paid to ITH if you click and subscribe to Peacock. Alex and the ITH team appreciate your support!)
Banner #1: Hoosiers Fall To Northwestern
In a pivotal contest at Northwestern, the Hoosiers came up short. The Wildcats built a 10-point lead early before Indiana rallied for a six-point halftime advantage. NW was red-hot in the second half as IU struggled to defend and the home side got the upper hand.
While Indiana made runs at it and stayed competitive in defeat for the first time in 2024-2025, they still came out on the wrong end of a 79-70 score. Mackenzie Mgbako broke out of his shooting slump to score 20 points while Malik Reneau returned from injury but struggled.
Afterward, IU coach Mike Woodson spoke, Ryan Corazza wrote a Minute After and Film Session, Alex Bozich put together Five Takeaways, and Matt Press penned columns about the second-half collapse and Luke Goode.
The Hoosiers sit at 14-6 overall and 5-4 in the league and return to action today against Maryland at noon on CBS. This contest is of the utmost importance as IU still sits on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Banner #2: IU Adds 2025 Recruit
While the news on the court was not great, a headline from off it was somewhat more promising. Heading into this week, IU had just one recruit for 2025-2026.
However, that number doubled to two on Friday when Harun Zrno of Bosnia committed to Indiana. While he has no ranking or stars as an international player, he fills a huge need as a 6-7 knockdown shooter. He is also more mature than most incoming freshmen as he will be 21 years old by next fall when he takes the court.
Banner #3: Women Fall To USC And Oregon
IU had a rough week on the court when it came to the women’s side as well. They had a massive challenge in Bloomington against top-five USC and potential national player of the year JuJu Watkins last Sunday. Indiana hung tough and took a late lead but ultimately fell 73-66.
The much more frustrating loss though came Friday in Eugene to a good but beatable Oregon squad 54-47 where the Hoosiers collapsed late. The team sits at 12-7 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten but still well within the NCAA Tournament picture.
They return to action on Monday at 9 pm on BTN+ when they stay on the West Coast vs. Washington. IU will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak when they tip off against the Huskies.
Banner #4: Hoosiers In The NBA
Turning to the pros, there has been some excellent play from several former Hoosiers. Thomas Bryant has taken quite well to the local NBA team as the backup center for the Pacers while Kel’el Ware has had a hot stretch for the Heat.
Eric Gordon and Trayce Jackson-Davis both returned to Indiana to play Bryant and the Pacers recently and are seeing significant minutes for the 76ers and Warriors. The other former IU players are OG Anunoby who has been a major contributor for the Knicks as well as Jalen Hood-Schifino and Cody Zeller who have seen no playing time at all for the Lakers and Hawks respectively.
Presenting Sponsor: Homefield Apparel
Homefield’s annual Black Friday sale has already begun. Use the promo code BLACKFRIDAY at checkout to get 20% off your entire order.
The item of the week for this week is the new “Hurryin’ Hoosiers” snapback hat. Both
Jerod Morris
and
have it, and can attest to its quality and fit.Plus, how cool is it to have an item celebrating the great teams under Branch McCracken?
Banner #5: Weekly Shows
Podcast on the Brink was recorded this week. It featured a crossover with Assembly Call’s Tony Adragna to discuss IU not living up to expectations so far this season.
The Back Home Network was on-air multiple times in the last few days. Assembly Call Postgame, Crimson Cast, Doing The Work, Dribble Drive, and Xs and Joes all were on-air.
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Banner #6: Hoosier Roundup-Swimming And Diving Dominates Rival Purdue
Swimming and Diving dominated arch-rival Purdue.
Wrestling knocked off Michigan State.
Water polo announced their schedule and then picked up a couple of wins.
Track and field competed at the Crossroads of America Invitational.
Women’s tennis beat Cincinnati.
Baseball had one of their players named as a preseason All-American. However, another had to take a medical hardship.
Softball had a player named to a preseason watch list.
Men’s soccer announced a key returnee who will forgo signing professionally after being drafted.
Women’s soccer signed a couple of players.
Thanks for your continued support for The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall. We’ll be back next weekend with a new roundup.
Now go enjoy yourself a 6-banner Sunday.
Aaron (Ari) Shifron
Assembly Call Contributor
The Assembly Call is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.