A noticeable dullness held control over Assembly Hall for most of Indiana’s battle against Eastern Illinois on Sunday, possibly due to the energy that Bloomington expended on the football victory yesterday. This dullness subsided early into the second half when Malik Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako went on a 14-0 run that started at the 17:49 mark.
The Hoosiers took control from that moment on and came out victorious 90-55 and have now advanced to 2-0. The win marked Mike Woodson’s 65th victory at the helm for Indiana.
“It’s a good thing when you can hold a team to 18 points in a half” Woodson said postgame.
Indiana started the first half slow, struggling to adjust to the EIU defensive gameplan and holding only a 37-36 lead at the half. EIU was determined to force the Hoosiers' front court to work for every basket down low, sending multiple defenders on each Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau catch.
While this scheme held the game close until shortly beyond halftime, the strength, patience, and vision of both Ballo and Reneau proved too much for the Panthers to endure.
The Hoosiers went on a 27-3 run and forced EIU to miss 21 of 22 shots over an 8:46 period in the second half which sealed the deal. A representation of what Woodson has been preaching since this team was assembled and that is how many points they can tie on when they push the pace in transition. The team scored 31 fast-break points today – 19 more than in the victory over SIUE.
Reneau finished the day with 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting and added six boards, while Ballo also scored 17 points with nine rebounds and three assists.
This was the prototypical game for the big men to dominate down low, as EIU’s tallest player, Sekou Kalle, only stands at 6’10” and only registered 14 minutes.Throughout two games thus far, it is clear that Reneau has developed as a leader on the floor for the Hoosiers. Multiple times in this game he noticed a mismatch in his favor and called plays for himself, something that would’ve taken a guard to do so last season.
This is something Woodson expected, saying “his skillset was always there, it was just keeping him on the basketball floor…and just being more of a leader. He’s a junior now.”
Once again leading all scorers was sophomore Mackenzie Mgbako, who scored 18 points on 7-for-10 shooting, but he was impressive on the defensive side of the floor, contributing seven rebounds and two steals. Multiple times he either caused a turnover or caught a quick outlet pass and scored on the other end.
When a lineup includes Mgbako, and then replaces him with energetic freshman Bryson Tucker, it creates periods of exhaustion for a defense that already has so many other pieces to worry about.
“Yeah, I mean, Mack has taken a huge jump working on his game,” Reneau said postgame. “He's a tremendous shooter. He's starting to dial in on the little things with the rebounding and the getting in position on the defensive side and being able to play defense at a high clip, too.
Tucker tallied 12 points to go along with six rebounds that included a thunderous alley-oop that Trey Galloway tossed his way from nearly half court. Tucker has added a level of energy and scoring that has been invaluable to the second unit so far in two games.
“I would say just making the most out of my minutes,” Tucker said when asked about his mentality coming off the bench. “Like I come in, I know what I'm in there for, to score, play defense.”
Also contributing off the bench, through two games Galloway has tallied 17 assists, after coming off the bench in both contests. Woodson mentioned the switch last season as the factor saying “He's been great. A lot of that is a spin from last season. You know, when we basically converted him from off the ball to putting him on the ball based on the injuries that we had.”
Indiana will now have six days off before the South Carolina Gamecocks of the SEC travel to Assembly Hall. Tip off is set for next Saturday at 3:00pm.
