Three Matchups To Watch When Indiana Plays No. 2 Kansas Saturday

From the interior matchup between 7-footers Kel'el Ware and Hunter Dickinson to a point guard matchup between freshman Gabe Cupps and veteran Dajuan Harris Jr., here are three individual battles to watch when Indiana hosts Kansas Saturday.

Jack Ankony | Dec 14, 2023

Three Matchups To Watch When Indiana Plays No. 2 Kansas Saturday /

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Indiana Hoosiers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The home-and-home series between Indiana and Kansas shifts Saturday to Assembly Hall, which will be striped-out in the cream and crimson.

Friday marked the end of the fall semester, so Assembly Hall may not reach its absolute peak noise level without as many students as usual. But it should still be a raucous atmosphere when No. 2 Kansas comes to town for a 12:30 p.m. ET tipoff. Kansas dealt with a similar dynamic last year against Indiana in Lawrence, and Allen Fieldhouse made for a loud, daunting road environment.

Indiana enters this game 7-2 following a blowout loss to Auburn in Atlanta, but a 2-0 start to Big Ten play eases some of that pain. To hang their hat on any significant nonconference win this year, the Hoosiers must defeat No. 2 Kansas, which has wins over No. 5 UConn, No. 12 Tennessee and No. 14 Kentucky, plus a 14-point loss to No. 7 Marquette.

It's a team game, but here are three individual matchups to watch when the Hoosiers and Jayhawks battle.

Ware versus Dickinson

Hunter Dickinson and Kel'el Ware held the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on 247 Sports' transfer portal rankings this offseason, after Dickinson moved from Michigan to Kansas and Ware went from Oregon to Indiana. The 7-footers enter this matchup as their teams' leading scorers, with Dickinson averaging 19.4 points and 12.4 rebounds and Ware contributing 16.7 points and 9.2 rebounds per game.

It's an interesting matchup on multiple levels. Dickinson is the far more proven commodity, having earned All-Big Ten honors all three years at Michigan. Putting up career-high numbers in nearly every category so far, Dickinson is on pace to shatter his 3-point shooting records and earn his second All-American nod. Seemingly by choice, he's become one of college basketball's villains. He'll surely antagonize the Assembly Hall crowd Saturday, like he did as he led Michigan to a 2-1 record at Indiana, averaging 20.6 points and 10 rebounds.

"I can't wait to go back to Indiana," Dickinson said preseason. "Playing at Assembly Hall is crazy. I love that atmosphere.''

Ware will have his hands full with Dickinson, who can score inside and out, but it's that same versatility that could neutralize Dickinson on the other end. Though less proven at the college level, Ware, currently a sophomore, is a projected first-round pick and Dickinson is not. If there's a flaw in Dickinson's game, it's pick-and-roll defense. That becomes even more complicated with a player like Ware, who's a lob threat at the rim and can also pick-and-pop beyond the arc, shooting 6-for-12 from three this year.

The concern with Ware has been his physicality, as Woodson noted he "was shoved around a little bit and pushed out of his comfort zone" against Auburn. The same was true against UConn, and those two games were his two worst shooting nights of the year by at least 15%. Dickinson may not have the same defensive prowess as Ware's UConn and Auburn opponents, but he's one of the most talented offensive players in the nation.

Michigan handled Indiana at Assembly Hall today with an 80-62 win.

Hunter Dickinson had 25 points and 9 boards, and Caleb Houstan dropped 19 to lead the Wolverines 🔥 @H_Dickinson24 pic.twitter.com/9ChDAU9mKa
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) January 24, 2022

Cupps versus Harris

If Indiana's senior point guard Xavier Johnson remains out for a fourth consecutive game, freshman Gabe Cupps will have another immense challenge against Kansas.

Dajuan Harris Jr. is back for his fifth year, two seasons removed from running the point for Kansas' 2022 national championship team. Harris is off to a shaky offensive start, shooting 38.6% from the field and 61.5% from the free throw line while averaging a career-high 2.6 turnovers. His 9-for-20 3-point shooting is a career-high 45% so far. Being the top scoring option has never been Harris' role, though, as he won Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year last year and is tied for seventh in the nation with 7.0 assists per game.

Cupps held his own against Auburn, finishing with zero turnovers and a career-high 11 points. Perhaps that game opened his mind to ways to score at the college level. But Cupps also mentioned postgame that Auburn's pressure made it more difficult for the Hoosiers as a whole to get into their offense. Kansas likely won't full-court press like Auburn did, but the veteran Harris can help control games at the point of attack.

Dajuan Harris played one of the best games of his career in a big spot.

Harris finished with 23 PTS (7-12 FG) and 7 AST in the win. pic.twitter.com/4UCHYsgpsp
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) November 15, 2023

Mgbako versus McCullar

Freshman Mackenzie Mgbako's production feels like a determining factor of whether Indiana reaches its ceiling this year. Clearly the Hoosiers need Johnson to get healthy and Trey Galloway to find his shooting stroke, but Mgbako has the potential to elevate this team to another level. He was borderline unplayable early in the season, and Woodson benched Mgbako down the stretch of narrow wins against Florida Gulf Coast and Army.

But more recently, Mgbako has shown a few flashes of why he received a five-star label and landed on NBA mock drafts before stepping foot on a college court. Across the last four games against Harvard, Maryland, Michigan and Auburn, Mgbako has scored in double figures each game while shooting 47.2%, an increase from his 32% shooting in the first six games. His 6-for-29 3-point shooting will need to improve, but he's been more aggressive on the offensive end and looks like he's beginning to understand his defensive responsibilities.

Mgbako will face one of the most talented wings in the nation on Saturday in Kansas senior Kevin McCullar Jr. In his second year with the Jayhawks after three years at Texas Tech, McCullar has taken a major leap in production. He's nearly doubled his scoring, going from 10.7 to 19.0 points per game, and his 37.8% 3-point shooting is a career high by over 6%. McCullar was a Big 12 All-Defense selection last year, creating a stingy perimeter duo alongside Harris.

Ware versus Dickinson

Cupps versus Harris

Mgbako versus McCullar

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