UNC basketball will play the Indiana Hoosiers in a preseason exhibition game on Sunday, Oct. 18, in Indianapolis.
The Tar Heels and Hoosiers will face off at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers and WNBA’s Indiana Fever. The matchup was announced Monday, June 15. Tickets for the game go on sale Wednesday, June 17, at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster.
UNC is beginning a new era with first-year coach Michael Malone, who was hired in April to take over after the Tar Heels fired Hubert Davis. UNC returns seniors Jarin Stevenson and Jaydon Young, along with sophomore Isaiah Denis.
Matt Able (N.C. State), Neoklis Avdalas (Virginia Tech) and Terrence Brown Jr. (Utah) were key transfer portal additions, with Sayon Keita and Alexandros Samodurov added as international prospects. Maximo Adams headlines a freshman class that includes Malloy Smith and Kevin Thomas.
Entering its second season under head coach Darian DeVries, Indiana has a transfer-portal-heavy roster that includes several former ACC players in Markus Burton (Notre Dame), Darren Harris (Duke), Samet Yigitoglu (SMU) and Jaeden Mustaf (Georgia Tech).
UNC basketball vs Indiana preseason game date, time
UNC basketball vs. Indiana is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 18, with a time and television designation to be announced at a later date.
UNC basketball vs Indiana preseason game tickets
Tickets for the game go on sale Wednesday, June 17, at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster.
UNC basketball history vs Indiana
It’s an exhibition game, so UNC vs. Indiana won’t count against either team’s record on the 2026-27 schedule or in the record books. But looking at the history between the two historic programs, the Hoosiers have a 10-6 edge in the all-time series, including wins in three of the last four meetings. The Tar Heels haven’t beaten Indiana since a 101-86 win in the Sweet 16 of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. UNC also lost to Bobby Knight’s Hoosiers in the 1981 NCAA championship game behind a big performance from Isiah Thomas.
UNC basketball exhibition games history
Division I men’s basketball programs are allowed to play up to two preseason exhibition games against any four-year institution. Typically, under former coaches Roy Williams and Hubert Davis, those matchups involved Division II programs across North Carolina. In the last two seasons under Davis, the Tar Heels became one of many programs to be included in high-profile preseason matchups. UNC won 84-76 at Memphis in 2024 before losing 78-76 at BYU ahead of the 2025-26 season.
