Indiana University Athletics
Saturday, November 16
Bloomington, Ind.
3 p.m.
Indiana University
vs
South Carolina
Gamecock Ready -- Do-It-All Mgbako Paces Hoosiers
11/16/2024 11:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – How high is Mackenzie Mgbako's basketball ceiling? What can't this Indiana 6-9 sophomore swingman do as he evolves into elite-player status?
Offensively, Mgbako thrives from the perimeter, in the paint and in between. Defensively, he's more in tune with coach Mike Woodson's system.
Consider the season-opening two-game sample size. Mgbako leads the No. 16 Hoosiers (2-0) in scoring (24.5 points), rebounding (8.0), field goal shooting (74.1%) and 3-point shooting (66.7%), and he's tied for second with three steals, one less than forward Malik Reneau.
Entering Saturday's home game against South Carolina (2-1), Mgbako ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring behind Northwestern's Nick Martinelli (28.3 points) and Minnesota's Dawson Garcia (26.0).
"He's a guy who can score, and we know that," guard Trey Galloway says. "We're going to need him to do that a lot this season."
This is an impressive follow up from last season's Big Ten freshman-of-the-year performance (12.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, team-leading 50 3-pointers). Mgbako is on the preseason watch list for the Julius Erving Award, which goes to the nation's best small forward.
"It's just being aggressive and playing with what they give me," he says.
Playing better defense helps.
"A big thing is defense creating offense," Mgbako says. "Knowing the reads on defense leads to offense."
Woodson envisioned this while recruiting Mgbako out of New Jersey, where he was a five-star prospect and a McDonald's All-American.
"You can count on (him scoring at all three levels)," Woodson says. "You can put him in situations where you need a mid-range two, and he's able to make shots. He's finishing at the rim. He's scoring from the perimeter. I like everything that he's done from an offensive standpoint. He's gotten better and is heading in the right direction."
Defensively, Woodson is pleased with Mgbako -- to a point.
"He's gotten a little better defensively," Woodson says, "but I'm on him a lot about defense and knowing our coverages and not having miscues.
"We've had some miscues in the first two games. You expect that because of all the newness we have, but he's been with me for more than a year, I'm pushing him harder on the defensive end to have fewer of them."
SIU Edwardsville coach Brian Barone is impressed. He praised Mgbako's patience and poise after Mgbako burned Edwardsville for a career-high 31 points in the season opener.
"He doesn't get sped up," Barone says. "He just goes about himself. He reads the screens the right way. He has great size."
As a team, IU averages 85.0 points and allows 58.0. It shoots a Big Ten-best 57.1% overall, 35.3% from 3-point range. It is second in the conference in assists per game, at 22.0. Only Iowa, at 23.3, is better.
In evaluating the Hoosiers, Woodson also considers the Tennessee exhibition victory, a tough-minded road performance.
"There are a lot of positives around our team," he says. "Look at the Tennessee game. That was a competitive big-time game. We competed from the beginning to the end. Nobody wanted to give in. It went back and forth, and we made plays we needed to make to win. That's where I'm hoping we can (consistently) be."
Woodson says the Hoosiers' defense "has been pretty solid." That was especially true in the second half of last Sunday's victory against Eastern Illinois. IU gave up just 18 second-half points after allowing 37 in the opening 20 minutes.
"In the first half, our switching was terrible, and we were not up to touch (on Eastern Illinois' outside shooters)," Woodson says. "In the second half, we flipped that. We were up to touch, and our switching was pretty good. I have to get us to consistently play that way from the start."
As far as the Hoosiers' offensive identity, Woodson says it remains a work in progress.
"We're scoring a lot of points, but we're not shooting the 3-ball great. A true offensive team makes threes when they have them. They sacrifice the ball when guys are open. They set screens when they're called up. Those are the little things that tie into a good offensive team. We not there yet."
Woodson calls the transition offense "raggedy" at times. Myles Rice has shown flashes of elite point guard play, but with nine assists and seven turnovers, more work is required.
"There are a lot of things we're trying to clean up," Woodson says. "We are more talented and faster. Guys like Rice, who are talented, have to make good decisions. I'm not happy in that area. We'll keep working until we get it right."
Galloway sets the point-guard tone even while working back from off-season knee surgery. He averages 5.5 points and 8.5 assists in just 17.5 minutes a game while coming off the bench.
"Gallo knows me," Woodson says. "He has converted himself into how we want to play. He knows how we want to play. That's a bonus.
"Unfortunately, I can't play him 30 minutes. His body won't take it right now. We have to be conscious of that. The minutes he's played have been unbelievable. His numbers have been fantastic in being able to distribute the ball. He makes our offense flow in terms of how we want to run it. I'm very pleased with Gallo. I hope, as season goes on, we can extend the minutes."
This will be South Carolina's first road game. After losing to a good North Florida team (it's now 3-1), it beat SC State and Towson by a combined 48 points.
Coach Lamont Parrish's 3-point emphasis hasn't produced consistent perimeter shooting. South Carolina is just 19-for-64 (29.7%) from beyond the arc.
The Gamecocks are led by senior guard Jacobi Wright, who averages 16.0 points with a team-leading 46.7% from 3-point range, and forward Collin Murray-Boyles, who averages 20.3 points and 10.7 rebounds. Murray-Boyles and Wright each shoot better than 62.0%.
"That will be a major test for us," Woodson says about the 6-8, 245-pound Murray-Boyles. "He is a load. They go to him like we utilize Malik and (center Oumar) Ballo.
"Malik has gotten better defensively in terms of playing smaller perimeter guys, but this is big (power forward), a powerful (power forward) who demands the ball. We'll have to see how Malik is playing him. He has to play Malik on the other end, so we'll see how they match up."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – How high is Mackenzie Mgbako's basketball ceiling? What can't this Indiana 6-9 sophomore swingman do as he evolves into elite-player status?
Offensively, Mgbako thrives from the perimeter, in the paint and in between. Defensively, he's more in tune with coach Mike Woodson's system.
Consider the season-opening two-game sample size. Mgbako leads the No. 16 Hoosiers (2-0) in scoring (24.5 points), rebounding (8.0), field goal shooting (74.1%) and 3-point shooting (66.7%), and he's tied for second with three steals, one less than forward Malik Reneau.
Entering Saturday's home game against South Carolina (2-1), Mgbako ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring behind Northwestern's Nick Martinelli (28.3 points) and Minnesota's Dawson Garcia (26.0).
"He's a guy who can score, and we know that," guard Trey Galloway says. "We're going to need him to do that a lot this season."
This is an impressive follow up from last season's Big Ten freshman-of-the-year performance (12.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, team-leading 50 3-pointers). Mgbako is on the preseason watch list for the Julius Erving Award, which goes to the nation's best small forward.
"It's just being aggressive and playing with what they give me," he says.
Playing better defense helps.
"A big thing is defense creating offense," Mgbako says. "Knowing the reads on defense leads to offense."
Woodson envisioned this while recruiting Mgbako out of New Jersey, where he was a five-star prospect and a McDonald's All-American.
"You can count on (him scoring at all three levels)," Woodson says. "You can put him in situations where you need a mid-range two, and he's able to make shots. He's finishing at the rim. He's scoring from the perimeter. I like everything that he's done from an offensive standpoint. He's gotten better and is heading in the right direction."
Defensively, Woodson is pleased with Mgbako -- to a point.
"He's gotten a little better defensively," Woodson says, "but I'm on him a lot about defense and knowing our coverages and not having miscues.
"We've had some miscues in the first two games. You expect that because of all the newness we have, but he's been with me for more than a year, I'm pushing him harder on the defensive end to have fewer of them."
SIU Edwardsville coach Brian Barone is impressed. He praised Mgbako's patience and poise after Mgbako burned Edwardsville for a career-high 31 points in the season opener.
"He doesn't get sped up," Barone says. "He just goes about himself. He reads the screens the right way. He has great size."
As a team, IU averages 85.0 points and allows 58.0. It shoots a Big Ten-best 57.1% overall, 35.3% from 3-point range. It is second in the conference in assists per game, at 22.0. Only Iowa, at 23.3, is better.
In evaluating the Hoosiers, Woodson also considers the Tennessee exhibition victory, a tough-minded road performance.
"There are a lot of positives around our team," he says. "Look at the Tennessee game. That was a competitive big-time game. We competed from the beginning to the end. Nobody wanted to give in. It went back and forth, and we made plays we needed to make to win. That's where I'm hoping we can (consistently) be."
Woodson says the Hoosiers' defense "has been pretty solid." That was especially true in the second half of last Sunday's victory against Eastern Illinois. IU gave up just 18 second-half points after allowing 37 in the opening 20 minutes.
"In the first half, our switching was terrible, and we were not up to touch (on Eastern Illinois' outside shooters)," Woodson says. "In the second half, we flipped that. We were up to touch, and our switching was pretty good. I have to get us to consistently play that way from the start."
As far as the Hoosiers' offensive identity, Woodson says it remains a work in progress.
"We're scoring a lot of points, but we're not shooting the 3-ball great. A true offensive team makes threes when they have them. They sacrifice the ball when guys are open. They set screens when they're called up. Those are the little things that tie into a good offensive team. We not there yet."
Woodson calls the transition offense "raggedy" at times. Myles Rice has shown flashes of elite point guard play, but with nine assists and seven turnovers, more work is required.
"There are a lot of things we're trying to clean up," Woodson says. "We are more talented and faster. Guys like Rice, who are talented, have to make good decisions. I'm not happy in that area. We'll keep working until we get it right."
Galloway sets the point-guard tone even while working back from off-season knee surgery. He averages 5.5 points and 8.5 assists in just 17.5 minutes a game while coming off the bench.
"Gallo knows me," Woodson says. "He has converted himself into how we want to play. He knows how we want to play. That's a bonus.
"Unfortunately, I can't play him 30 minutes. His body won't take it right now. We have to be conscious of that. The minutes he's played have been unbelievable. His numbers have been fantastic in being able to distribute the ball. He makes our offense flow in terms of how we want to run it. I'm very pleased with Gallo. I hope, as season goes on, we can extend the minutes."
This will be South Carolina's first road game. After losing to a good North Florida team (it's now 3-1), it beat SC State and Towson by a combined 48 points.
Coach Lamont Parrish's 3-point emphasis hasn't produced consistent perimeter shooting. South Carolina is just 19-for-64 (29.7%) from beyond the arc.
The Gamecocks are led by senior guard Jacobi Wright, who averages 16.0 points with a team-leading 46.7% from 3-point range, and forward Collin Murray-Boyles, who averages 20.3 points and 10.7 rebounds. Murray-Boyles and Wright each shoot better than 62.0%.
"That will be a major test for us," Woodson says about the 6-8, 245-pound Murray-Boyles. "He is a load. They go to him like we utilize Malik and (center Oumar) Ballo.
"Malik has gotten better defensively in terms of playing smaller perimeter guys, but this is big (power forward), a powerful (power forward) who demands the ball. We'll have to see how Malik is playing him. He has to play Malik on the other end, so we'll see how they match up."
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
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