Indiana by no means trailed on Friday evening and rolled previous Minnesota, 74-62, at Meeting Corridor. The victory improved the Hoosiers to 12-5 total and 4-2 in Huge Ten play.
Listed here are 5 takeaways from the win towards the Golden Gophers:
Indiana’s power was glorious from the opening tip
The Hoosiers wanted to exhibit extra power, combat and cohesiveness following Tuesday’s loss to Rutgers at Jersey Mike’s Area.
That’s exactly what occurred from the opening tip towards Minnesota.
Indiana made issues troublesome with a strong defensive effort towards the Gophers and took care of the ball offensively, which helped gasoline a scorching begin.
The Hoosiers raced to an 11-2 lead and by no means appeared again, main by as many as 21 factors within the second half. Minnesota coach Ben Johnson stated postgame that his staff performed catch-up all night.
“I assumed the scouting report was completely match going into the sport, and so they adopted it proper from the beginning,” Mike Woodson stated. “We actually defended the ball. We didn’t let their guards actually get away from us when it comes to getting downhill, so we actually centered in on not giving straight-line drives the place we had to assist as a lot.”
The defensive stress on the ball was extra intense than common and appeared to make Minnesota uncomfortable.
A number of of Minnesota’s early photographs have been wild misses and the Gophers by no means acquired comfy from past the 3-point line, capturing a dismal 3-for-20.
Mackenzie Mgbako’s finest sport but as a Hoosier
Freshman Mackenzie Mgbako confirmed off his full offensive package deal in Friday’s win.
The five-star ahead from Gladstone, New Jersey has primarily been a fringe shooter however used his power to get to the rim repeatedly towards Minnesota.
When Mgbako wasn’t ending on the rim, he was attending to the road. The 6-foot-8 ahead tried a team-high seven free throws, connecting on 5.
He completed with a team-high 19 factors in 34 minutes.
Extra necessary, nonetheless, was Mgbako’s protection. His minutes have usually been restricted this season as a consequence of his defensive shortcomings. He held his personal on Friday, which allowed him to remain on the ground for a career-high 34 minutes.
“He’s put the work in,” Woodson stated. “He’s persevering with to work, together with the remainder of our younger gamers. All we are able to do as coaches is proceed to show and push and attempt to get as a lot out of them as we are able to as we proceed this journey.”
Trey Galloway scores effectively, dishes out seven assists and defends
It was an evening to neglect for Indiana’s level guards, Gabe Cupps and Xavier Johnson. The duo mixed for simply two assists and two factors in 47 minutes and 0-for-7 capturing from the sphere.
With each gamers struggling to attain or distribute, Trey Galloway stepped up with considered one of his finest all-around video games of the season.
Galloway shot 4-for-5 from the sphere and made two of his three 3-point makes an attempt.
Extra necessary, although, have been Galloway’s seven assists. 5 of these assists got here within the second half as he discovered a number of teammates – Mgbako, Kel’el Ware and Malik Reneau – for buckets.
Galloway additionally made his mark defensively as he helped maintain beginning Minnesota two-guard Mike Mitchell Jr. scoreless in 20 minutes. It was the primary time this season the Pepperdine switch, who has scored in double figures eight occasions, didn’t register a degree.
Indiana shortens the rotation
After 11 gamers logged minutes at Rutgers, Indiana shortened the rotation towards Minnesota.
The Hoosiers performed 9 gamers, and solely eight logged double-figure minutes, as Kaleb Banks solely entered the sport briefly after Anthony Walker had a bloody nostril late within the first half.
There have been additionally no stretches within the first half with 4 subs within the sport concurrently. Even with the tighter rotation, Indiana did enable an 11-0 run within the first half that allowed Minnesota to climb inside 5 factors.
Nevertheless, the Hoosiers dictated the sport from the opening tip and Minnesota by no means severely threatened to take management, notably within the second half.
Whereas plus-minus numbers aren’t an ideal stat, all of Indiana’s starters logged a +16 or higher within the win, whereas Johnson (-13), Walker (-12), and Gunn (-7) have been all within the detrimental regardless of every taking part in a minimum of 13 minutes.
By six Huge Ten video games, Indiana has the league’s finest protection and third-worst offense
Regardless of a pair of ugly losses at Nebraska and Rutgers, Indiana’s Huge Ten file is strong at 4-2. The schedule will get rather more difficult now with No. 1 Purdue coming to city and street journeys to Wisconsin and Illinois.
By six league video games, Indiana is profitable due to its protection.
The Hoosiers have allowed simply .973 factors per possession thus far towards Huge Ten opponents, the highest mark within the convention. Indiana held Minnesota to .872 factors per possession, a season-low for the Gophers.
Offensively, nonetheless, the Hoosiers rank simply twelfth within the league with .992 factors per possession.
A number of points are contributing to Indiana’s offensive woes in convention play.
Indiana is popping the ball over on 19.1 % of its possessions towards Huge Ten opponents, the third worst within the league. And its free throw capturing ranks final at 60.3 %.
(Picture credit score: IU Athletics)
Filed to: Mackenzie Mgbako, Minnesota Golden Gophers
