Indiana men’s basketball hasn’t advanced past the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament since 2002, and its alumni team, Assembly Ball, fell victim to the trend in its inaugural appearance in The Basketball Tournament.
After a late comeback, Assembly Ball, which trailed by 14 points when the target score was set, suffered an 82-79 defeat to Eberlein Drive, a team made of alums from several different institutions, on Tuesday night at Butler University’s Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Assembly Ball previously won games Friday and Sunday night at Hinkle to make the Butler regional championship game. With a victory, the group of ex-Hoosiers would’ve made the Elite Eight and moved to three wins away from the $1 million prize.
Among the IU alums on Assembly Ball’s roster include guards Yogi Ferrell (2012-16), Jordan Hulls (2009-13) and Devonte Green (2016-20) and forwards Juwan Morgan (2015-19), Noah Vonleh (2013-14), Troy Williams (2013-16), Miller Kopp (2021-23) and Race Thompson (2018-23).
Ferrell and Kopp started in the defeat but were the only two ex-Hoosiers to take the floor. Assembly Ball listed Hulls as active pre-game, but he didn’t play. Green, Morgan, Vonleh and Thompson were each inactive. Williams joined the team on the bench for all three games but failed to record action.
As it did in its first two games, Assembly Ball started strong, holding a 16-9 lead three minutes into play — but Eberlein Drive kicked its proverbial car into high gear, and after a 23-5 run, surged to a 32-21 lead halfway through the second quarter.
Assembly Ball trimmed the deficit to 6 points, but Eberlein Drive finished the half on a 13-4 run, taking a 47-32 lead into the break.
A strong third quarter put Assembly Ball back in the mix, as it trailed 61-53 entering the final quarter. However, Eberlein Drive dominated the early portion of the fourth stanza and led 74-60 when the clock hit four minutes.
In The Basketball Tournament, once the game reaches the final four minutes, 8 points are added to the leading team’s score, and that number becomes the target for the two teams to reach. Thus, victory went to whoever first reached 82 points.
Assembly Ball appeared dead in the water, needing 22 points to Eberlein Drive’s 8 — but Ferrell led a late charge, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers and assisting on another.
Once trailing 80-71 and one Eberlein Drive bucket away from defeat, Assembly Ball closed to 80-79. It needed one stop and a 3-pointer, but ultimately failed to deliver.
Eberlein Drive center Jake Stephens cleaned up a miss from guard Archie Goodwin to cement Assembly Ball’s 82-79 demise in front of a heavy pro-Hoosier crowd at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
With his feverish finish, Ferrell led all scorers with 21 points, though he shot just 6-of-19 from the field and 4-of-12 from distance. Kopp also scored in double figures, posting 10 points while pulling down six rebounds but going only 3-of-12 from the floor.
Two other Assembly Ball starters reached double digits, as former University of Oklahoma forward Kristian Doolittle had 10 points and 13 rebounds, and ex-Louisiana State University guard Keith Hornsby tallied 14 points.
Whether Assembly Ball will return to The Basketball Tournament in 2025 is uncertain — but this summer’s pursuit of glory for the Hoosier state ultimately ended four wins shy from the ultimate prize.
Daniel Flick covers Indiana football and men’s basketball for the Indiana Daily Student. Follow him on X @ByDanielFlick, or reach him via email at DanFlick@iu.edu.
