IU defeats North Carolina Central 75-56

In a rare February non-conference game, the IU men’s basketball team didn’t have any letdowns.

No. 23/24 IU (21-7, 8-7) cruised to a 75-56 win against North Carolina Central on Wednesday night at Assembly Hall.

The Hoosiers were led by freshman forward Cody Zeller, who poured in 17 points in 6-of-9 shooting. Not far behind Zeller was sophomore guard Victor Oladipo and forward Will Sheehey, who chipped in 16 and 12, respectively.

Sheehey started in place of junior forward Derek Elston, marking his first start since IU lost 68-56 at Michigan on Feb. 1. Sheehey made the most of the opportunity and filled the statsheet with seven rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block.

The sophomore led an IU attack on the boards. The Hoosiers out-rebounded North Carolina Central 35-15, including 15-3 on the offensive glass.

Junior forward Christian Watford failed to make a basket for the second game in a row, the first time he has gone on such a stretch in his career.

Leading the way for the Eagles was Kansas State-transfer Dominique Sutton with 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting.