Men's Basketball

PREVIEW: NO. 2 WARRIORS VS. COUGARS

PREVIEW: NO. 2 WARRIORS VS. COUGARS
Posted: Feb 26, 2026

Ottumwa, IA – The No. 2 nationally ranked Indian Hills Men's Basketball squad is set for its regular season finale at the Hellyer Center on Friday night as Highland Community College (IL) comes to town for a 7:00 PM tip.

DETAILS: No. 2 Indian Hills vs. Highland

Ottumwa, IA  |  Hellyer Center

Friday, February 27  |  7:00 PM

Watch Live: GoHillsTV

Live Stats: Indian Hills vs. Highland

Tickets: Indian Hills vs. Highland

Game Sponsor: Golden Eagle Distributing 

STARTING FIVE

  • Sophomore Vladyslav Semerych was named this week's ICCAC Athlete of the Week, the seventh different Warrior to earn ICCAC DI Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week honors this year.
  • Indian Hills has not lost a home game in 28 contests, including a forfeit win over Highland last season and two true home games that occurred on courts outside the Hellyer Center (Evans Middle School and Cardinal High School).
  • The Warriors have posted 10 undefeated seasons at the Hellyer Center with its most recent perfect slate occurring in 2019-20 (21-0).
  • During the team's 15 game win streak, the Warriors are outscoring their opponents by an average of 22.5 points per game.
  • As a team, the Warriors are shooting 72.5 percent from the free throw line this year, the best mark for the Warriors since 2020-21, and second-best over the past 10 seasons.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS

Highland heads to the Hellyer Center with a 14-15 overall record.

  • The Cougars are 4-6 in their last 10 games, but have won three consecutive games heading into Friday night.
  • Highland sports a 5-6 record in true road games this season.
  • Sophomore Walter Hill Jr. leads the offense with 15.4 points per game followed by sophomore Chin Hanson's 15.1 points per game.
  • The Cougars rank third in the nation with 6.6 blocks per game, led by 3.1 blocks per game from Hanson, fourth-most in the NJCAA.
  • Highland is led by first-year head coach Erik Walton.

SERIES HISTORY

The Warriors and Cougars will match up for the 14th time, including the second time during the 2025-26 campaign.

  • Indian Hills took an 85-81 victory back on January 22 in Freeport, IL as sophomore Taj Au-Duke poured in a game-high 26 points.
  • The Warriors are 12-1 all-time vs. the Cougars, including eight consecutive wins dating back to the January 29, 2022.
  • Indian Hills is 5-1 all-time vs. the Cougars at the Hellyer Center.
  • The two teams first met in 1990 at the State Fair Classic in Sedalia, MO, a 95-73 win for the Warriors.

WHAT'S NEXT

With the outright regular season ICCAC title in hand, the Warriors will now head into postseason action. Indian Hills is set to host the NJCAA Region 11 Championship game at 7:00 PM on Saturday, March 7 at the Hellyer Center. The Warriors will take on the winner of No. 2 seed Southeastern Community College and third-seeded Marshalltown Community College who will match up in Burlington on Wednesday, March 4.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Former Warrior Quinton Perkins II (2024-25) posted his best performance of the year with his new squad at Mercer University. Perkins, making his first start in nearly two months, posted a season-high 21 points on 7-9 shooting, including 4-5 from three-point range to lead the Bears to an 89-86 victory over Samford. Perkins has scored in double-figures in three of his last four games and is averaging 8.8 points per game on the year.

NEW YEAR - WHAT TO KNOW

Fans can keep up the Indian Hills Basketball squad all year long through a number of ways:

HOW TO WATCH

As always, GoHillsTV provides free live broadcasts of all Indian Hills Men's Basketball home, away, and postseason games. Fans can tune in a number of ways all season long:

  • GoHillsTV App: Download the Iowa Media Network app on your android or ios device and navigate to the GoHillsTV section
  • Website: https://www.iowamedianetwork.com/gohillstv to catch all live and archived information
  • Roku Streaming Device (new):  Have a Roku TV or streaming stick? Download the GoHillsTV app to start streaming today!

Looking for Indian Hills Athletics information straight to your inbox? Subscribe to our newsletter and mobile alerts to receive news, scores, highlights, and more in real-time: INDIAN HILLS ATHLETICS NEWSLETTER