6/8/2017 basketball Edit

Indiana Senior All-Stars Beat Juniors 134-92 In Plainfield Exhibition

Stu Jackson • TheHoosier

Staff Writer

Stu Jackson covers Indiana University basketball, football and recruiting for TheHoosier.com. He also hosts Heard on The Hoosier, the site's official podcast.

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PLAINFIELD, Ind. – Even playing without the state’s Mr. Basketball in Kris Wilkes, the Indiana Senior All-Stars still managed to prevent an exhibition sweep with a 134-92 win over the Junior All-Stars Thursday night at Plainfield High School.

Just two days earlier, the juniors bested the seniors 122-110 in the New Albany exhibition despite 33 points from Wilkes, a five-star forward who signed with UCLA this spring, and playing without five-star shooting guard and IU target Romeo Langford, who missed both exhibition contests due to a commitment to an adidas-sponsored event in Europe. The juniors are now 36-11 all-time against the seniors.

Wilkes was one of two senior players who missed the contest due a suspension stemming from “conduct that violates team rules and policy,” according to the Indianapolis Star’s Kyle Neddenriep.

Without Wilkes, three-star Iowa power forward signee Jack Nunge paced the seniors with a double-double of 28 points and 13 rebounds in 26 minutes as a starter. Three-star Butler shooting guard signee Cooper Neese added a double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench.

On the juniors’ side, a pair IU targets enjoyed productive evenings despite the loss.

Class of 2018 four-star Eric Hunter Jr., a 6-foot-3, 170-pound shooting guard from Indianapolis Tindley High School, finished with 12 points 4 of 10 shooting from the field to go along with four rebounds in 19 minutes as a starter. He doesn’t have an offer from IU yet but the staff has shown interest in him. Hunter has a handful of Big Ten and Big East interest with offers from Nebraska, Purdue, Butler, Minnesota, Creighton and Xavier. Hunter is ranked as the No. 77 player nationally by Rivals.

“I think I played well,” Hunter said. “I shot the ball pretty well early. That zone, that bothered us a little bit. We weren’t expecting that.”

Additionally 2018 three-star Robert Phinisee chipped in two points, two assists and two steals in 23 minutes as a starter. The 5-foot-11, 155-pound point guard holds offers from IU, Purdue, Virginia and Butler among others, and is ranked as the No. 121 player nationally by Rivals.

The seniors had a big second half, outscoring the juniors by 26 over the final 20 minutes. The seniors also finished with a 72-20 advantage in points in the paint. Overall, the seniors shot 55.9 percent from the field to the juniors’ 39.3 percent.

The junior squad’s all-star activities concluded Thursday, while the senior squad will face the Kentucky All-Stars Saturday at 7 p.m. ET at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.