VALPARAISO | Extracting positives from an exhibition loss to a Division II team could be a tall task. But if anyone will try, it's Valparaiso University men's basketball coach Homer Drew.

There was nothing pretty about VU's 88-83 loss Sunday against the University of Indianapolis, a team that went 9-18 last season. Poor interior defense, poor execution down the stretch and a lack of reliable 3-point shooting were just some of the lowlights.

"We're not as good as what we are going to become," said Drew, who has less than two weeks to work some magic before VU's season opener Nov. 13 at Ball State, followed two days later by a trip to North Carolina. "We've got nine new players if you include Cory (Johnson) and Brandon (McPherson) who didn't play much last year. Blending is always going to take time."

Defensively, the Crusaders didn't have an answer for UI center Larry Woods, who worked inside for a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds. The Crusaders also had trouble defending 6-foot-7 Sergey Stuck (18 points, eight rebounds) in the post and guards Ryan Sims (13 points) and Darius Adams (12 points) on the perimeter.

VU was outrebounded 35-30. The Crusaders also allowed the Greyhounds to shoot 55.8 percent from the floor while hitting just 26-of-62 shots (41.9 percent) of their own.

"Our practices are much more spirited (than we played)," said Drew, who has already scheduled a 6 a.m. practice for Tuesday. "We just did not communicate. We did not talk on defense. We learned a lot of what we need to get better."

VU took an early 6-0 advantage, highlighted by a pair of McPherson layups. But after a timeout, the Greyhounds composed themselves to take a 7-6 lead and never trailed again.

"There's really no excuse, honestly," said McPherson, who returned after having knee surgery last season. "In practice, we play way harder than we did out there. ... There's no excuse for that."

VU trailed 42-35 at halftime, but Indianapolis built a 60-44 advantage with 12:45 remaining. The Crusaders put together a 26-11 run during the next seven minutes to cut their deficit to 71-70 with a pair of Cameron Witt free throws, but they never took the lead.

Michael Rogers led the Crusaders with 19 points, which included a 3-for-5 shooting performance from 3-point range. McPherson added 15 points and Howard Little had 13. Johnson, Brandon Wood and freshman Ryan Broekhoff scored eight apiece.

VU has no other exhibition games scheduled. The Crusaders have a closed scrimmage Saturday against Chicago State before the regular season starts.

"Any time you can play it helps," Drew said. "Hopefully we'll show improvement in that scrimmage, and that will lead us into Ball State. We have to become much more efficient in the next two weeks. We have to learn that it takes a much more intense effort.

"We're still going to surprise teams."

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Indianapolis 88, Valparaiso 83

Michael Rogers led the Crusaders with 19 points to go along with four rebounds.