BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- They know No. 4 North Carolina is next, but the third-ranked Indiana Hoosiers tried to be convincing in not looking past Mississippi Valley State.

Especially after a stunning overtime loss at Fort Wayne on Tuesday, the Hoosiers needed Sunday's 85-52 tune-up romp over the winless Delta Devils at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Now Indiana (4-1) can focus on the Tar Heels (7-0), who visit Wednesday night in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Sophomore center Thomas Bryant initially smiled when asked about North Carolina, then he composed himself to give a minimalist perspective.

"We're just staying poised right now," he said. "We're not looking too far ahead. We know what we have up ahead and what's against us. But we're going to look at the film, get better from tonight's game, and keep moving forward."

The Hoosiers didn't need junior leading scorer James Blackmon Jr., who sat out with knee soreness, to take care of Mississippi Valley State (0-8). The 20.5-point scorer's status for Wednesday is uncertain.

"It's too early to put an expectation and a prediction on that," said Hoosiers coach Tom Crean. "He's better every day."

One player who improved dramatically from the previous game was sophomore forward OG Anunoby. He was still recovering from the flu, which ended his scoreless Tuesday early, but Anunoby scored a game-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting and hit three 3-pointers.

"I thought he really worked through it because he was winded and there's no question that he had lost some of his conditioning and things like that from being sick," Crean said.

Blackmon's absence was noticeable during a sloppy first-half stretch, when the full-court-pressing Delta Devils trimmed a 17-point deficit to five. But the Hoosiers closed with seven consecutive points for a 40-28 halftime lead. It was never close after that as Anunoby opened the second half with a 3-pointer.

"He's one of those guys that when he's locked in, he makes the game easier for everybody," said Hoosiers junior guard Robert Johnson, who had 14 points.

Mississippi Valley State has lost all but one of its games by double digits, including two lopsided outcomes at Big Ten schools, 94-63 at Northwestern and 100-53 at Michigan State. And the Delta Devils have been without their injured leading scorer, senior guard Marcus Romain, for five games.

"I know Indiana has a great program, so when they stepped on the floor they were going to bring their 'A' game because they were not going to let another upset happen," said Mississippi Valley State head coach Andre Payne.

Senior guard Rashaan Surles led the visitors with 14 points and senior guard Isaac Williams had 13.

Bryant, who scored 13 and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, said the Hoosiers are still capable with Blackmon sidelined.

"It's hard to not have James out there," he said, "but we have key things that we go to when James isn't. So, nothing really changes. Everybody else just steps up."

Although Indiana committed 15 turnovers, Crean saw necessary progress.

"Each game counts for something, just like the learning experience counts, just like every game's learning experience counts," he said. "But the most important thing that you got to have daily is the edge."

NOTES: Indiana G James Blackmon Jr. dressed for the game and participated in warm-ups. ... The Delta Devils are playing their first 14 games on the road. ... Indiana began a stretch of four games in seven days. ... Mississippi Valley State opponents averaged 88 points in the previous seven games. The Hoosiers averaged 89 points in their first four games. ... Indiana made 35 of 79 3-pointers (44.3) in its first three games, just 7 of 24 (29.2) against the Mastodons, then 9 of 25 (36.0) against Mississippi Valley State.