NEW ALBANY, Ind. - IU Southeast men's basketball opened the 2026-27 season with a 99-77 win over Simmons College Monday in front of a packed-out crowd at the IUS Activities Building.
Alex Johnson scored the Grenadiers' first points of the season after hitting a jump shot 1:25 into the first half. Cole Thomas followed it up with the first three-pointer of the season on the next possession. Leading 5-2, the Grenadiers went on a 12-2 run to take a 17-4 lead with 14:55 left in the first half.
Simmons cut into the lead later in the first half after a fastbreak layup made it 26-18. IU Southeast responded with a 13-2 run, highlighted by a fastbreak layup and one by Shalon Robinson, to go up 39-20. The Falcons once again got back in it, scoring ten straight points. A late Grenadiers' run put them back up double digits, and IU Southeast went to the locker room up 50-34 at the half.
IU Southeast's offense kept it rolling in the second half, regaining their 21-point lead after Zion Williams sunk a three-pointer. The Falcons never got the score within 18 points in the second half, and the Grenadiers extended their lead late and led by as much at 29. Simmons would cut the lead down to 22 after hitting a pair of late free throws. IU Southeast scored 49 points in the second half and won 99-77.
Jordan Treat and Cole Thomas scored 23 points each. Treat shot 8-14 from the field and 5-10 from beyond the arc. Thomas shot 6-12 from the field, 4-9 from three, was 7-7 from the free throw line, and had nine rebounds. IU Southeast's leading rebounder was senior Eli Meyer, who pulled down 14 rebounds while scoring 11 points.
As a team, IU Southeast shot 46% from the field, 40% from three, and 76% from the free throw line. The Grenadier defense forced 20 turnovers and forced the Falcons to shoot just 27% from beyond the arc.
Coach Wiley Brown's squad is 1-0 following Monday's win over the Falcons. The Grenadiers will take on Simmons again on Saturday, this time traveling across the river to Louisville, Ky., for the second game of a home-and-home with Simmons.
