Five takeaways from Indiana’s win against Eastern Illinois

  • Nov 11, 2024 8:30 am in

Indiana improved to 2-0 with a 90-55 win against Eastern Illinois on Sunday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Here are five takeaways from the win against the Panthers:

Mackenzie Mgbako continues to shine

Mackenzie Mgbako has been Indiana’s most productive player through two regular season games.

The 6-foot-9 sophomore has exhibited growth on both ends of the floor. He’s crashing the glass with a purpose, he’s more active defensively and his communication on the floor and in huddles is visible.

On Sunday afternoon, Mgbako scored 18 points, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out four assists and had two steals in 27 minutes.

Through two games, he’s averaging 24.5 points, eight rebounds, two assists and 1.5 steals in 27.5 minutes per game. Mgbako is shooting 74.1 percent from the floor and 66.7 percent on 3s.

“Mack has taken a huge jump working on his game,” Malik Reneau said Sunday. “He’s a tremendous shooter. He’s starting to dial in on the little things with the rebounding and the — just getting in position on the defensive side and being able to play defense at a high clip, too.”

Trey Galloway’s playmaking stands out for a second straight game

Indiana fifth-year senior Trey Galloway has come off the bench in the team’s first two games but has excelled as a distributor in each contest.

In the season opener against SIUE, Galloway dished out nine assists in 17 minutes. He was equally as impressive on Sunday against Eastern Illinois. In 18 minutes, Galloway had eight assists.

Through two games, Galloway has 17 assists and just four turnovers. All of the reps he had last season playing point guard have made the position more natural for the Culver Academies product.

“He’s been great. A lot of that is a spin from last season,” Mike Woodson said postgame. “You know, when we basically converted him from off the ball to putting him on the ball based on the injuries that we had.

“We’re benefitting from it because he’s gotten better over the summer. You know, even though he hadn’t played much, you could see what little he’s done since he’s come back after injuries, his injury in practice, that has helped his game tremendously, and we’re benefitting from it.”

Indiana recovers from a poor first half

The final boxscore showed Indiana with a 35-point win against Eastern Illinois but it took a while for the Hoosiers to get going in the noon tipoff.

Woodson described the first half as “awful” and Reneau said the team came out “flatfooted.”

Assembly Hall was stunned as Indiana trailed by as many as five in the first half and by one at the break.

To Indiana’s credit, the Hoosiers looked like a completely different team in the second half. Indiana outscored Eastern Illinois 54-18 to close the game.

“We adjusted the second half and guys came out and got after it,” Woodson said. “Couldn’t ask for a better second half.”

Malik Reneau is in the best shape of his career

In his postgame comments after IU’s exhibition win at Tennessee, Woodson mentioned that Malik Reneau had done substantial work to improve his body and conditioning this season. Specifically, Woodson mentioned that Reneau took his diet more seriously.

With Reneau guarding 4s and playing more on the perimeter, he needed to be able to move better away from the basket.

Through two games, Reneau is seeing the benefits of his offseason gains. He’s more agile, he’s more explosive and he seems to be getting to the ball quicker on rebounds.

“His movement up and down the court (is better),” Woodson explained postgame. “I’m not playing him big minutes. He played more minutes last year. I’m sure we’ll get his minutes back up to 30, 30 to 31, 32 minutes. Just his movement and being able to recognize things that are in front of him now defensively because we switch a lot.”

The key for Reneau as the competition gets tougher remains staying out of foul trouble. He had four fouls against SIUE but just one against Eastern Illinois.

Bryson Tucker will be a key piece of the rotation

After struggling in Indiana’s season opener against SIUE, Bryson Tucker showed why he was a McDonald’s All-American with his play against Eastern Illinois.

The freshman wing scored 12 points in 21 minutes. He shot an efficient 5-for-7 from the field against the Panthers and also grabbed six rebounds.

Most importantly for Tucker, he’s not scared of the moment. Tucker knows he belongs and is assertive immediately upon entering the game.

“I would say just making the most out of my minutes,” Tucker said postgame. “Like I come in, I know what I’m in there for, to score, play defense. So I just make the most of that and just stay focused. That’s really all there is to that.”

Tucker’s explosiveness and ability to create space in the midrange to get shots has stood out early in the season.

“If you can’t get to the rim if they close it up, just stopping and popping right is just right there every time,” Tucker explained. “Most times if you just stop you’re usually going to be open, because they are used to people just driving all the way.”

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