INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 Indiana men\u2019s basketball junior guard Jaeden Mustaf drove into the lane, looking for a bucket against the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mustaf\u2019s layup attempt was unsuccessful, but his teammate, junior forward Aidan Sherrell, was there to clean it up. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The Hoosiers\u2019 next layup attempt, this time tried by freshman forward Trevor Manhertz, was unsuccessful too. Once again, Sherrell was there to grab the rebound, and this time able to convert the board into two points. \u00a0<\/p>\n
The basket gave the Hoosiers a then-game high 11-point lead and forced the Tarheels into a timeout. It was one of many moments in Indiana\u2019s 76-58 victory over North Carolina on Sunday that showed where the Hoosiers\u2019 identity lies \u2014 in its rebounding. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Against the Tarheels, Indiana won the rebounding battle 53-31. The Hoosiers grabbed 20 offensive rebounds and scored 17 second chance points. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnytime you get outrebounded 53-31, that\u2019s a crazy number,\u201d North Carolina head coach Michael Malone said postgame. \u201cAnd to give up 20 offensive rebounds for 17 points. And that was a point of emphasis all week long in preparation for this team.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Malone continued conveying disappointment in his team\u2019s ability to stop the Hoosiers\u2019 rebounding efforts. He said the Tarheels were \u201cman-handled\u201d and \u201coutworked\u201d on the glass. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Indiana\u2019s ability to rebound created several second chance opportunities and was an outlet for success when other areas of the game weren\u2019t up to par. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Throughout the contest, Indiana was held to 36%\u00a0shooting from the field and 33% from the arc. The Hoosiers committed 15 turnovers yet still came away with an 18-point victory. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t look very clean on the offensive end, but we were still able to overcome it with some offensive rebounding,\u201d Indiana head coach Darian DeVries said. \u201cAnd like I told them before the game, we\u2019ve been talking about it all summer, fall, this is our identity, this is who we\u2019re gonna be.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last season, Indiana\u2019s major weakness was its inability to rebound. The Hoosiers lacked true size, and as a result, were often dominated on the glass. The Cream and Crimson were outrebounded\u00a0in 10 of the Hoosiers\u2019 11\u00a0conference losses last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But since, DeVries has transformed his roster in his second year at the helm. He brought in players with length and size who can dominate inside. Some of the additions include 7-foot, 250-pound Sherrell, 7-foot-2 junior center Samet Yigitoglu and 7-foot freshman center Clemens Sokolov. \u00a0<\/p>\n
And so far, the results have followed. \u00a0<\/p>\n