Mackenzie Mgbako’s career night fuels IU in season opening win against SIUE
With under five minutes remaining in the first half and Indiana basketball tied with SIUE at 27 apiece, it looked like the Hoosiers forgot they had a game Wednesday night. Except for Mackenzie Mgbako, that is.
The sophomore forward got off to an explosive start, scoring 13 of the team’s first 19 points en route to a career-high 31 points. While the 80-61 final score shows a strong performance, IU struggled to find a rhythm and required Mgbako to pick up the slack for most of the contest.
“I thought he was the only one who truly played pretty good offense tonight,” Mike Woodson said postgame.
The Gladstone, New Jersey native did it all against the Cougars, not just offensively. He showed an improved understanding of defensive concepts and displayed consistent effort on both sides of the ball – problematic areas at times last season.
Offensively, Mgbako was in rhythm right at the opening tip. He showed his versatility by scoring in almost every way possible – a jump hook, midrange jumper, 3-pointer, running in transition and slamming one home.
While Mgbako stayed consistent, Indiana’s offense did not. It ebbed and flowed, mainly as Woodson tested different lineups with substitutions and the Cougars crept their way back and tied things up with close to four minutes left. Then, Mgbako stepped up again.
First, sophomore guard Kanaan Carlyle found Mgbako curling off a double screen and he nailed a triple in rhythm. On the opposite end, he tailed his defender and jumped the passing lane, taking the ball coast-to-coast and finishing a layup through contact to earn an and-one.
That sequence of plays was precisely what you’d hope for from the reigning co-Big Ten freshman of the year, exemplifying the growth many anticipated. Mgbako acknowledged that kind of effort was his biggest focus of the offseason.
“A big thing is defense creating offense,” he said postgame. “Being able to know the reads on the defensive side, that leads to offense.”
The sequence also launched an 11-0 Hoosier run, leading to a 42-30 halftime lead. This helped avoid an uncomfortably close season opener like last year.
By halftime, Mgbako accounted for 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting and five rebounds, both team-highs. The rest of the team shot 6-for-18 in the opening frame.
His performance didn’t stop short of the first 20 minutes. Immediately out of halftime, he recovered from a miscommunicated switch and retreated to deflect away a lob attempt – a play freshman-year Mgbako would not have made.
He wasn’t done offensively, either, and stepped up exactly when Indiana needed him. After SIUE battled to cut the lead to single digits halfway through the second half, Mgbako responded.
He confidently looked off a pass, pulled the trigger on a 3-pointer, and sunk it, extending the lead back to double digits. On the next possession, he attacked the rim and collected an offensive rebound for a tip-in. A minute later, he aggressively cut to the basket and a searching Trey Galloway dumped it off for a Mgbako jam.
Same game, a different life-invigorating sequence Mgbako provided for the Hoosiers. Whenever IU needed an important play – whether a bucket or not – Mgbako answered the call. Once again, the sophomore stepped into a role he never could have filled eight months prior.
“He’s still learning,” Woodson said. “Tonight was one of the best games he’s had since he’s been here.”
With just under six minutes to play, Mgbako closed out his night with his fourth triple of the game, extending the Hoosiers’ lead to 20 points. His final stat line read 31 points on 13-for-17 shooting, including 4-for-5 from deep, with nine rebounds, a steal and a block.
Excluding Mgbako, Indiana shot 17-for-40 (42.5 percent) from the field, notably 2-for-11 (18.2 percent) from 3-point range. The 6-foot-9 forward was the team’s leading rebounder, topping the Hoosiers in both offensive and defensive rebounds with three and six, respectively.
Wednesday night left many questions unanswered. Woodson admitted postgame that the team is still searching for its offensive identity. Several talented pieces have undefined roles and minutes, and multiple concerns from last season’s team, such as poor perimeter shooting and rebounding struggles, emerged. Through it all, however, Mgbako proved he can be a reliable option, maybe even the go-to guy and his NBA talent is real.
“It’s great to see,” Galloway said of Mgbako’s performance. “He’s very efficient in his work. He’s a guy that can score for us, and we know that. He did it tonight. We’re going to need him to do it a lot of times.”
Mgbako and the Hoosiers continue their nonconference schedule against Eastern Illinois this weekend. Sunday’s tipoff is scheduled for noon in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Filed to: Mackenzie Mgbako