Indiana basketball beat Syracuse, 83-80, Monday night in its first game against a power conference opponent this season.

With little scoring from the post, the Hoosiers leaned on Markus Burton, Jaeden Mustaf and Darren Harris. All three came through at different points, including down the stretch.

Here are three observations from the game.

Jaeden Mustaf played his best game as a Hoosier

Mustaf scored nine first-half points and made four of his first five shots. He scored five straight coming out of the under-12 media timeout, putting back an offensive rebound and knocking down a 3-pointer Syracuse gave him room to take.

On another possession, Mustaf fought for a defensive rebound, brought the ball up against full-court pressure and shrugged off a defender on his way to a layup. He finished with 18 points and seven rebounds, including three on the offensive glass.

Mustaf also opened on Gavin Doty, Syracuse’s leading scorer. Darren Harris took over when Mustaf went to the bench, and Trevor Manhertz picked him up with both off the floor. Doty had one point on 0-of-3 shooting at halftime.

Indiana turned to Mustaf again in the second half, this time to guard freshman Ryan Moesch, who had 15 points and was 3-of-4 from deep when the Hoosiers made the switch.

Darian DeVries wants Mustaf to be Indiana’s defensive stopper. Monday showed what that role can look like. He opened on Syracuse’s leading scorer, took on its hottest guard in the second half and still found ways to score without Indiana having to call plays for him.

Indiana lacked a reliable scoring option inside

Indiana got into the paint, but it rarely found consistent offense through its bigs.

Aiden Sherrell played just six first-half minutes after picking up two early fouls. He made both of his 3-point attempts, but the Hoosiers didn’t get much scoring from him around the basket.

Samet Yigitoglu was active on the defensive glass and drew fouls fighting for post position. Indiana looked for him early, but Syracuse often waited until he started his move to send a second defender. Yigitoglu struggled to make quick decisions against that pressure.

The Hoosiers saw against Western Kentucky how Yigitoglu’s passing can turn a double-team into an easy look. With shots missing from outside on Monday, Indiana could have used more possessions where getting the ball into the post led to a clean look for Yigitoglu or a teammate.

Indiana’s starting backcourt came through when it mattered

Burton, Mustaf and Harris gave Indiana different ways to score when there wasn’t much coming from the post. That mattered all night, but especially down the stretch, when the Hoosiers needed baskets in a tight game.

Burton kept getting into the paint off the dribble, building on what he showed in the season opener about his ability to create offense for himself and his teammates. Mustaf gave Indiana another guard who could get to the rim through contact. Harris gave the Hoosiers a threat away from the ball, whether he was catching and shooting off an inbounds play or cutting behind the defense.

That trio combined for 58 of Indiana's 80 points on Monday night.

Indiana will need more production from its bigs. But Monday showed why the starting backcourt can carry the offense for stretches.