Eastern’s men’s basketball came out with a strong first half, but a shaky second half costs the team to lose to No.17 Indiana University 90-55 Sunday afternoon in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Eastern’s senior guard NaKyel Shelton scored the first points of the game with a highly contested three pointer.

Junior guard Zion Fruster and Shelton were dropping three-pointers left and right as Fruster made a deep contested three-pointer.

“We were playing off each other as a team,” Shelton said. “Running plays for certain guys and giving them the best scoring options. I was setting [Zion] up, he was setting me up, and the coaching staff called out plays to get us going.”

Shelton got into a groove himself, shooting two back-to-back highly contested three pointers.

Eastern went on an 8-2 run early on to give them an early 16-11 lead over Indiana.

Shelton and Fruster combined for five three pointers for the Panthers in the first half, and this duo also led the team with points after the first half.

Shelton ended the first half with 15 points followed by Fruster’s 10 of his own. Graduate guard Artese Stapleton and graduate forward Kooper Jacobi followed behind with six points of their own.

“We played pretty hard [in the first half],” Eastern’s head coach Marty Simmons said. “I felt we got deflections. I felt we played with confidence. I thought we had a segment in the first half that we were playing really good. Competing. We’re not going to match their size and physicality, but we got speed and quickness, so I really thought on both ends on the court, I felt like we were getting better shots.”

The Panthers and Hoosiers went back and forth throughout the first half as Eastern ended the first half up by one point.

“I think the first half went well,” Shelton said. “We played as a team, we were very aggressive defensively, and I think we did a good job of making them take tough shots.”

The second half was a different story.

Indiana outscored Eastern 51-18 in the second half.

“I think our effort went downhill,” Shelton said. “We lost on the boards. We kind of quit defensively. Lot of bad shots led into transitions buckets for them which got them going, got them easy looks. They took off from there.”

The Hoosiers put pressure on the Panthers’ defense throughout the second half, recording multiple runs.

Indiana recorded a 9-0 run, and after a layup by Jacobi to break it, the Hoosiers recorded a 10-0 run to increase the margin to 17 points relatively early in the second half.

“The lack of offense and the lack of execution on offense hurt our defense,” Simmons said. “They let it effect our defense.”

Eastern struggled to come back into the game as Indiana recorded a 13-0 run to make the score 76-48 with less than 10 minutes left in the game.

“We have to play physical and tough no matter what,” Jacobi said. “I think we’re going to learn it, and we’re going to work on it in practice, and I think we’re going to be good in the next game.”

Shelton ended the game with 17 points and three rebounds. Although the team lost, Shelton is optimistic about moving on from this game and taking it as a lesson for the rest of the season.

“We’re using this game as motivation,” Shelton said. “It’s just another stepping stone. Watch film, grow from it, see what we need to improve on and just making adjustments for the next good school and good program.”

Fruster ended the game with 13 points followed by Stapleton with 12 of his own. Stapleton also recorded five steals, four assists and three rebounds.

Jacobi finished the game with eight points, six rebounds and two assists. Along with Shelton, Jacobi is also hopeful the Panthers will continue to improve throughout the season.

“I think we were showing our ability to make shots and to be able to play with a team that’s ranked, and I think putting that together in the second half is our next step,” Jacobi said. “Overall, I think there’s promise and there’s hope.”

The Panthers are currently 1-2 for the season. Eastern will be back on the road to play the Northwestern Wildcats on Friday in Evanston.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.