The North Carolina men’s basketball team put together a promising start to the Michael Malone era in its first exhibition nine days ago. The second exhibition on Sunday didn’t have the same result.
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The Tar Heels were dominated by Indiana 76-58 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. UNC shot 34.9% from the field and was outrebounded by the Hoosiers 33-21.
The Tar Heels played the game without reserve guard Isaiah Denis, who UNC said is “day-to-day” in a post to Twitter before the game. It led to a tighter rotation for UNC, with Malone playing just 10 players before freshman forward Kevin Thomas made it 11 with 4:42 left in a game North Carolina trailed by 20 points.
Freshman forward Maximo Adams (17 minutes), forward Alex Samodurov (14), junior guard Jaydon Young (20) and graduate guard Angelo Brizzi (12) all logged double-digit minutes off the bench, getting a lot of run when the game was out of reach. But the extended evaluation of the first five was mired with some discombobulation offensively, 15 turnovers and 26 points from Indiana guard Bryce Lindsey on the other end.
The first half was entirely out of sorts for the Tar Heels, and that set the tone. After an and-1 dunk by freshman center Sayon Keita was followed by a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Matt Able 1 minute, 35 seconds into the game, UNC didn’t connect on consecutive field goal attempts for another 6:27 … and then not again for another 9:05 after that.
The Hoosiers didn’t exactly explode offensively on the other end, but after Young tied the game at 17 with a left-corner 3 at the 11:58 mark of the first half, Indiana went on a 15-4 run over the next 8:11 — a stretch where the Tar Heels went 2 of 11 from the field. North Carolina went to halftime trailing 41-29, shooting 38.7% while allowing 11 offensive rebounds to the Hoosiers as they attempted six more shots in the first 20 minutes than UNC did.
Indiana stretched the lead to 17 points with a pair of baskets to start the second half, and at that point, UNC showed some offensive cohesion running a pick-and-roll with Keita. It led to four-straight baskets and an 8-0, but it only trimmed the lead to eight points, 46-38. And that’s as close as the Tar Heels got.
A 13-2 run put the Tar Heels down 67-46 with 6:27 left. Soon after, Malone got his bench into the game after an effort UNC will very much like to leave behind.
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Here’s what stood out from the exhibition loss.
There wasn’t much to open eyes in the first half for North Carolina. That is, until Indiana mishandled an inbounds and the ball found the hands of Sayon Keita. Keita took the ball and, with just a defender to beat, thought he might take it himself. He’s the tallest player on UNC, and also one of the most inexperienced. But the young big dribbled it up the floor himself, euro-stepped while holding the ball up high and finished a layup in transition.
As of now, those flashes are just a bonus.
Keita will have some time to come along offensively on a guard-heavy Tar Heels group. The most promising aspect of his game on Sunday is everything else: For UNC to have some faith in its frontcourt, its freshman center, Keita, is going to have to show that he can simply play big. And on Saturday, Keita wasn’t able to get there every time, but more often than not his 7-foot-1 frame and long arms could at least get within swiping distance of shots by the rim (by Indiana) and off of it (by the Tar Heels). Keita had three blocks in the first half and five overall, grabbing nine rebounds to go with his 12 points.
His timing looks great as a help-side defender, and he could be a game-changing rim protector for the Tar Heels. He can make an impact on the boards with his activity and length, too. All the rest looks to be not far behind.
By the time Terrence Brown sliced into the lane with 19:02 left in the game, it was clear the Tar Heels point guard was taking a different approach to his second tune-up in a North Carolina uniform. He was more aggressive, for sure. But too aggressive at times.
That drive ended like a few others did: Brown was out of control, and missed a layup too strong. Brown wasn’t the only member of the Tar Heels that was missing at the rim, as UNC converted on just 10 of 21 layups in the game. But Brown seemed at times like he’s still trying to find the rhythm he needs to play with alongside other ball-dominant players. His added aggression led to more stats, with seven points on 3 of 9 shooting. But his best plays were when he was able to slow down in the paint — and often Sunday he was too erratic.
Matt Able wasn’t able to score at all in the Tar Heels’ first exhibition. That couldn’t last long for a player that’s expected to be one of UNC’s most important offensive players after a promising freshman season at NC State.
A positive of a poor effort for North Carolina was that Able got some things going. His 11 points of 4-of-7 shooting came with three 3-pointers. He showed an ability to make open shots from deep and even connected on a mid-range pull-up as he looks to explore his offensive game in his second collegiate season. It was a steady step forward for Able.
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This story was originally published October 18, 2026 at 7:41 PM.