Milwaukee vs Indiana State prediction: Indiana State's all-new roster gets a test from Milwaukee's returning forwards

Indiana State starts from scratch

Indiana State will take the Hulman Center floor with nobody who played a minute for the Sycamores last season. The share of last season's minutes returning is 0.0%, and the program brought in 15 new athletes, nine of them college transfers.

That makes last season's numbers close to useless here. The Sycamores went 11-21 and finished 183rd of 365 in adjusted net efficiency last season (points scored minus points allowed per 100 possessions, adjusted for opponents). Those figures describe a team that no longer exists.

What carries over is the coach. Matthew Graves is in his third season after taking leave for heart bypass surgery in October 2025, and he represented the Sycamores at Missouri Valley media day alongside Gregory and forward Jackson Cooper. The system is his; the players running it are new.

Milwaukee's forwards carry the continuity

Milwaukee turned over most of its roster too, returning 28.7% of last season's minutes. The difference is that what stayed is its best frontcourt production.

Jovanovich was the Panthers' most efficient regular before his season ended after 17 games. He averaged 12.4 points and shot a 61.4% effective field goal percentage (a shooting measure that counts threes as 1.5 makes). His status for this season hasn't been stated publicly, though the Horizon League named him to its preseason All-League team on Oct. 6.

Jackson made that team as well. He averaged 9.7 points last season with a 57.5% effective field goal mark, efficient scoring in a modest role that could grow now.

Size is where this tilts. Milwaukee's minutes-weighted average height is 76.7 inches, against 74.6 for Indiana State, and every incoming Sycamore transfer with Division I numbers in our data is a guard. If Jovanovich plays, Milwaukee has the edge around the rim.

A backcourt built from four schools

Indiana State's answer is perimeter firepower assembled from the portal. Gregory was the go-to option at South Carolina Upstate, averaging 15.6 points with a 27.4% usage rate (the share of possessions he finished while on the floor).

Maguire Mitchell brings volume shooting from IU Indianapolis, where he made 83 threes at a 34.9% clip. Meechie White, from Eastern Illinois, adds the most balanced profile: he shot 38% from three and averaged 2.0 steals.

Milwaukee's guard picture is murkier. Isaiah Dorceus returns as the primary distributor at 3.7 assists per game, but his shooting lagged. Marquette transfer Tre Norman played a small bench role last season. The Panthers also lost Amar Augillard, who used 32.5% of possessions, so shot creation outside the forwards is an open question.

Home floor and a fresh history

This is Indiana State's Veterans Appreciation Night, a promotional date that should help the crowd at Hulman Center.

The series barely exists. Before last season the programs had not played since 2009, and Indiana State won the December 2025 meeting 70-68 at Milwaukee. Almost none of the players from that game will be on the floor for either side.

Both teams open Nov. 2, Milwaukee at USC and Indiana State against Charlotte, so each will have games on film before this one. Milwaukee was picked sixth in the Horizon League preseason poll, up from eighth a year ago. No betting line has been posted yet.