Hoosiers Now

LIVE BLOG: Indiana Men's Basketball Takes On South Carolina

Indiana's men's basketball team tries to get to 3-0 as the Gamecocks visit Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Todd Golden

Indiana's Myles Rice (1) directs the offense during the Indiana versus Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024.
Indiana's Myles Rice (1) directs the offense during the Indiana versus Southern Illinois University Edwardsville men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Hello from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall! Indiana tries to improve to 3-0 today as the Hoosiers welcome South Carolina to Bloomington for a Big Ten vs. SEC battle.

South Carolina is the only Power Five school to come to Bloomington this season. It's the only Power Five school Indiana plays at all outside of Battle 4 Atlantis.

That's a shame. I'm sure Indiana fans would like a bit more juice in their nonconference schedule. Indiana has to make sure it takes care of business in a big way against its mid-major and lower-major foes and take care of the Power Five teams they do play.

• South Carolina 4-0, 1800 1H. Indiana fans who want a perimeter game aren't going to be happy. Indiana's first four shots are all in the lane and none have been converted. Oumar Ballo forced one of them. Malik Reneau missed another hook.

• Indiana 7-4, 1558 1H. Nice recovery on the offensive end by the Hoosiers after the 0-for-4 start. Mackenzie Mgbako scored a transition dunk to get the Hoosiers moving in the right direction. After that, a very encouraging sign as Kanaan Carlyle passed out of the lane out to Myles Rice on the right wing. Rice drained his first 3-point attempt of the game to put the Hoosiers in front. Another Mgbako bucket came after he beat his man off the dribble.

Indiana has tuned up its defense too after the Hoosiers got worked on South Carolina's first two possessions.

• Former Hoosiers Kel'El Ware and Thomas Bryant, both now with the Miami Heat, are both at the game and both got loud ovations when shown on the videoboard. Miami played the Indiana Pacers last night.

• Indiana 18-11, 1153 1H. The Hoosiers can make threes! Indiana built a 17-5 lead on the strength of a 3-for-4 start from long range. Myles Rice hit two of them. The Gamecocks then recaptured their wits and scored the next six.

The "hockey substitutions" crowd won't like Trey Galloway, Bryson Tucker and Luke Goode coming in en masse for Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle and Malik Reneau. I don't know. Sometimes I agree with that criticism, sometimes I don't. That, to me, is a game-by-game thing and that it's become a "thing" among some segments of the Indiana fanbase strikes me as a bit of a lazy charge often levied unfairly because it doesn't always apply.

• Indiana 22-17, 751 1H. Both teams had lengthy scoring droughts with a near-three-minute dry spell for each.

Malik Reneau played the five from one media timeout to the next with mixed results. He tried to force the issue a bit too much once the ball came into him. He was too far away from the basket on most of his attempts, apart from a second-chance opportunity he got right at the rim.

A concern for Indiana is that 16 of the 22 points have come from Myles and Mackenzie Mgbako. Everyone else is a combined 3 of 13 from the field. Oumar Ballo has taken only one shot.

• Oumar Ballo brought the ball up on one Indiana possession. The crowd was terrified at first, but gave him a big cheer as he successfully matriculated the ball past mid-court.

• Indiana 35-24, 335 1H. South Carolina has looked a step slow all game long - they have hit a few threes here and there to make up for it - but the Hoosiers are on a 6-0 run and it feels like the Gamecocks are on the brink. Indiana has made five of its last six shots, including a near half-court lob from Myles Rice to Kanaan Carlyle for a spectacular dunk.

Oumar Ballo is not having a wonderful offensive game, but he and the rest of the frontcourt have squelched South Carolina big man Collin Murray-Boyles. He has just 2 points and has only taken one shot.

• Indiana 40-30, :55.7 1H. The paint is a no-go zone for the Gamecocks. South Carolina has scored just six points there as Ballo is lurking. He's had two blocks and both of them were intimidating swats. Gamecocks have made seven 3-point shots which is why they're still in range.

• Halftime - Indiana 43, South Carolina 32. Indiana plays its best half of the season as they rolled over the Gamecocks with 52% shooting and an attack that was dangerous both in the paint and on the arc. Myles Rice has poured in 17 points, including a 3-pointer - his third of the half - right before halftime. Mackenzie Mgbako with 12 points. Indiana is 5-for-9 from 3-point range.

The only statistical category Indiana trails in is assists as South Carolina has a 7-5 edge, but that's a small quibble. Not much to complain about from the Indiana perspective.

• Indiana 49-35, 1644 2H. Not a great start to the second half for Indiana, but Kanaan Carlyle made up for it as far as the crowd was concerned as his lob to Mackenzie Mgbako from 30 feet rattled in for a 3-pointer instead of being a pass.

Mike Woodson blew off the crazy bucket and was not happy with his Hoosiers at the timeout. Though South Carolina is 1-for-6 since halftime, they've been able to get some second chances.

• Indiana 49-37, 1534 2H. South Carolina big man Collin Murray-Boyles, who averaged 20.3 points and 10.7 rebounds entering the game, has been completely neutralized. He has 2 points, 5 rebounds, is just 1 of 4 from the floor, and most importantly, now has four fouls. If South Carolina was going to beat Indiana, the Gamecocks needed their best from their big man, but their getting his worst.

It's a very good sign for Indiana that the Hoosiers lead by 12 with Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo a combined 3 of 10 from the field for just 8 points. The other Indiana scoring options are coming alive.

• Indiana 59-44, 1151 2H. Malik Reneau had a quiet first half, but he's been louder in the second half with seven of his nine points scored since halftime. His latest bucket was a doozy. He spun around South Carolina's Zach Davis and did a nice double-clutch on his shot near the rim. He was fouled by Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk and will go to the line after the timeout.

Gamecocks have cooled off from 3-point range. South Carolina has only made 1 of 6 in the second half after a 7-for-20 first half.

• Indiana 62-48, 1012 2H. Hoosiers really trying to get Luke Goode going from 3-point range, but to no avail. South Carolina keeps rotating off of him in the corner and Indiana ball-handlers are finding him, but he's 0-for-3 from long range. Trey Galloway did hit a 3-pointer which drew a nod of approval from Mackenzie Mgabako who was sitting courtside waiting to check-in.

• Indiana 67-55, 816 2H. Collin Murray-Boyles fouls out. Turned out to be much ado about nothing as he was concerned. He finished with 2 points and 6 rebounds. The Gamecocks have sliced their deficit down from Indiana's peak lead of 18.

• Indiana 69-55, 736 2H. If the most annoying thing that happened to Indiana fans or Indiana's team was the official getting in the way of Kanaan Carlyle as he tried to field a pass? It hasn't been a bad day for the Hoosiers. South Carolina is still sort of in this, so Indiana's rotation probably won't get past the eight Hoosiers who have already seen the floor until the very late going.

• Indiana 71-61, 532 2H. Signs of trouble for Indiana? Hoosiers have lost a bit of their offensive verve and now a bit of lost composure as Kanaan Carlyle and South Carolina's Jamarii Thomas do a bit of jawing, resulting in a double technical foul. Indiana has missed four free throws in the second half.

• Indiana 73-64, 344 2H. Gamecocks still hanging around and Mackenzie Mgbako just handed South Carolina a chance to get closer after he pushed off on a baseline drive. Hoosiers haven't converted a field goal in 2:38. South Carolina has made six of its last eight shots.

• Indiana 79-68, 158 2H. It's a not an extremely tight game, but it's good for Bryson Tucker to be getting some important minutes with the Gamecocks still in spitting distance. Malik Reneau has four fouls and the Hoosiers are playing small around Oumar Ballo, so Tucker gets his shot.

• Indiana 79-71, 119 2H. South Carolina not going away. Eight-point lead for Indiana as the Hoosiers are forced to call a timeout on a subsequent inbounds pass. Nate Pringle has scored all 13 of his points for the Gamecocks in the second half.

• FINAL: Indiana 87, South Carolina 71 - South Carolina's comeback effort ran out of steam as Indiana put on a solid display against a Power Five opponent. Hoosiers shot 51% in a relative easy victory. Myles Rice rode a hot first half to a game-high 23 points.

Mackenzie Mgbako
Indiana's Mackenzie Mgbako (21) shoots during the Indiana versus South Carolina men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Some postgame statistics: Shooting - Indiana 51%, South Carolina 38.1%. 3-point shooting: Indiana 47.1%, South Carolina 27.6% (1 of 9 in the second half).

Rebounds - 34-34; Assists - 12-12. Turnovers - South Carolina 12, Indiana 11.

Both teams hit 8 3-point shots. Indiana did it via 12 fewer attempts (8 of 17).

Scoring: Indiana - Myles Rice 23, Mackenzie Mgbako 17, Malik Reneau 13, Kanaan Carlyle 12, Trey Galloway 11, Oumar Ballo 7 (13 rebounds), Bryson Tucker 4, Luke Goode 0.

South Carolina - Morris Ugusuk 18, Nate Pringle 13, Jamarii Thomas 13, Myles Stute 11, Zach Davis 8, Jacobi Wright 6, Collin Murray-Boyles 2, Jordan Butler 0, Cam Scott 0, Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk 0.

Pregame

• Mackenzie Mgbako is winning over the people. He got the biggest pregame ovation. Averaging 24.5 points per game will do that.

• Starters: Indiana - Oumar Ballo, Mackenzie Mgbako, Myles RIce, Malik Reneau, Kanaan Carlyle.

South Carolina - Jacobi Wright, Jamarii Thomas, Nick Pringle, Myles Stute, Collin Murray-Boyles.

• The pregame availability report listed Jakai Newton and Anthony Leal as out. Newton played a bit against Eastern Illinois, but as Mike Woodson has said throughout Newton's career, he has good and bad days. Leal got hurt in the Tennessee exhibition and is expected to be out for a while.

Gabe Cupps was listed as questionable on the report, but has warmed up and should be available.

• South Carolina was a surprise team in the SEC in 2024, but most of those players have departed. The Gamecocks deliberately went with olders players in 2024 as coach Lamont Paris wanted to infuse some immediate experience into the roster and it worked well. The Gamecocks were 26-8 and made it to the NCAA Tournament.

• If you missed it, four-star recruit Bryson Tiller committed to Kansas today. He had listed Indiana as one of his finalists, but there was little buzz surrounding Tiller and the Hoosiers, so his decision wasn't a big surprise.

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Todd Golden
TODD GOLDEN

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