Purdue Coach Matt Painter Sees Growth From Indiana Freshman Mackenzie Mgbako

Indiana five-star recruit Mackenzie Mgbako had a slow start to his freshman year, but his improvement on both ends of the floor has caught the eye of Purdue coach Matt Painter heading into Tuesday's rivalry game.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Mackenzie Mgbako is coming off one of the best games of his freshman year, both offensively and defensively. 

The 6-foot-8 wing scored a career-high 19 points during Indiana's 74-62 win over Minnesota on Tuesday. Mgbako also looked more in tune than ever with coach Mike Woodson's defensive game plan, which he said has been the No. 1 point of emphasis in practice throughout his freshman year. 

He'll look to build on that performance Tuesday, when the No. 2 Purdue Boilermakers come to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall for a 7 p.m. ET tipoff. As Indiana's leader in 3-pointers made, plus having the size to score inside, Mgbako presents an interesting matchup. 

Purdue starts three guards, along with 6-foot-9 Trey Kaufman-Renn and 7-foot-4 Zach Edey. From a height standpoint, it would make the most sense to start 6-foot-4 Fletcher Loyer on Mgbako, though he'd be giving up 37 pounds, per roster listings. Purdue added Lance Jones from Southern Illinois for his defense, but he's listed seven inches shorter than Mgbako. 

It could be a game for bench players like 6-foot-6 Mason Gillis, 6-foot-7 Cam Heide or 6-foot-7 Ethan Morton to earn more minutes and guard Mgbako. Coach Matt Painter was asked Monday if Purdue needs to throw a bigger defender at Mgbako to combat his size and multi-level scoring ability.

"Not really, you just try to break his rhythm," Painter said. "He's a rhythm shooter. He's a guy that can catch and shoot. He's shown, as he's gotten more acclimated to college basketball, that his decision making is much better, especially when he puts the ball on the floor."

Indiana Hoosiers forward Mackenzie Mgbako (21) shoots the ball while Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Cam Christie (24) defends in the first half at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Mgbako is averaging 10.2 points through the first 17 games of his college career, but it took him a minute to adjust to the higher level of basketball. He scored four points or fewer in four of his first five games, and he opened the first 12 games of his freshman season 8-for-44, or 18.2%, from 3-point range. Indiana coach Mike Woodson even benched him in the final minutes of a few nonconference games due to his defensive lapses. 

Over the last five games, though, Mgbako has improved to 12-for-23, or 52.2%, from beyond the arc. The raw talent that made him a five-star prospect and McDonald's All-American is beginning to shine through, now that he has a better understanding of the college game.

"His defense is better," Painter said. "That's where he struggled the first five, six, seven games of the year, and it cost him minutes because he wasn't ready to defend. Now he's doing a much better job. He's on his line. He's aware. He knows what's going on. He knows what Mike wants. At least it looks that way, right. For a young guy, it's hard. It's always hard, but you've got to have that kind of talent and that kind of skill in the game. So that coaching staff, they look like they've got that figured out and they've really made progress in that area."

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