INDIANAPOLIS - The IU Indianapolis men's basketball team will officially open the 2026-2027 season on Monday (Nov. 2) when it hosts Miami Middletown for an 11:00 a.m. tip-off for the annual NCAA 'Readers Become Leaders' game. The game is an expected sellout with more than 3,000 third-graders from across Central Indiana expected to attend the grand opening of the brand new James T. Morris Arena. 

The Jaguars dropped their lone exhibition primer, falling on the road at Austin Peay last Tuesday (Oct. 27), 96-94. Gus Etchison scored a team-high 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting and Reece Hagy chipped in 16 points and five rebounds. Markus Pastorcic-Straun added 14 points and three steals off the bench and Jason Clarke Jr. finished with 11 points. The game came down to the final possession, but the Jaguars were unable to get an end-of-game look for the win. 

Head coach Ben Howlett boasts a nearly entirely new roster for the upcoming season as Hagy and junior Kameron Tinsley are the only holdovers from a season ago. Etchison, a sixth-year veteran, brings a ton of experience to the backcourt and fifth-year forward Precious Idiaru possesses much needed size and experience to the frontcourt. 

PROMOTIONS 
Monday's game is the annual NCAA 'Readers Become Leaders' game as elementary school kids from across Indianapolis will attend as part of a field trip. In addition, the Pacers Power Pack is scheduled to perform at halftime of Monday's game. 

QUOTABLE
"We're disappointed. We want to win every time we go out there. We've got some things to clean up and work on between now and next week when the regular season begins. We didn't shoot it very well tonight and made some careless turnovers, but we'll continue to work and get better," Howlett said following last Tuesday's exhibition loss at Austin Peay. 

SCOUTING MIAMI MIDDLETOWN
Miami Middletown opened its season on the road at Hocking College on Saturday (Oct. 31). The Middletown roster is keyed by junior Jakari Parker and senior Alex Mullins. Parker scored 22 points against the Jaguars last season while Mullins had five points and nine rebounds. Another returner, Ramy Ahmed, had 15 points in just 16 minutes against the Jaguars.  

INSIDE THE SERIES
IU Indy is 3-2 all-time against Miami Middletown following last season's 126-73 win over the ThunderHawks. Previously, the two schools met four times between 1973-1975, splitting those four matchups. 

UP NEXT
The Jaguars will host UT Martin on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 5:00 p.m. inside James T. Morris Arena. Saturday's game will be broadcast on MyINDY-TV 23.