Indiana will play host to South Carolina on Saturday in a clash that pits the Big Ten against the SEC. Tip-off at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall is set for 3 p.m. ET.
The No. 16 Hoosiers are 2-0 to start the season and have won their matchups against SIUE and Eastern Illinois by 19 and 35 points, respectively. The Gamecocks are 2-1 and rebounded from losing their second game of the season against North Florida by blowing out SC State 86-64.
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Here’s everything you need to know about this showdown:
Indiana leads the all-time series between these schools 2-1 and has won the last two matchups. The Hoosiers and Gamecocks have not played against each other since Nov. 8, 1998, when Indiana won a “neutral setting” matchup in Indianapolis by a score of 76-55.
Before that, the only two matchups came in a home-and-home between the 1972-73 and 1973-74 seasons. South Carolina won the first ever matchup 88-85 at home in Columbia, but Indiana got revenge with an 84-71 victory back at Assembly Hall the next year.
Indiana sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako ranks 17th in the country with 24.5 points per game as of Thursday. Mgbako has scored with otherworldly efficiency through two games, hitting 74.1% of his shots, including a six-of-nine mark from three.
The Gamecocks have a star sophomore forward of their own in Collin Murray-Boyles, who is averaging a double-double with 20.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game and a 62.9% field goal percentage. Murray-Boyles reaches his production in a different way, having already shot 23 free throws in three games.
Mgbako’s top two running mates are big men Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau, both of whom are averaging 16 points and have accumulated double-digit rebounds over the first two games. All eyes have been on Ballo, who is coming off two consecutive All-Pac-12 First Team seasons at Arizona.
Senior guard Jacobi Wright has been the perfect complement to Murray-Boyles for South Carolina, scoring 48 points on just 29 shots this season on the strength of a blistering 46.7% mark from downtown.
There are a few X factors that will determine how this game goes:
Can South Carolina get to the free throw line?
The Gamecocks don’t do a lot of things at an elite level on offense, but their best collective skill is their ability to get to the free throw line (49th of 364 teams in FTA per game). The issue is that the Hoosiers are elite at defending without fouling, ranking 11th in opposing FTA per game.
Can Indiana get something going on the offensive glass?
Despite boasting a front line of the 7-foot Ballo and 6-foot-9 Reneau and Mgbako, Indiana has not been able to impose its will on the offensive glass, ranking 320th in the country. However, South Carolina has been even more susceptible on the defensive glass, allowing its opponents to collect their misses 15.3 times per game. Only 12 teams have been worse thus far in the season.
Indiana wins, 75-62. South Carolina hangs around because Indiana doesn’t have the 3-point firepower to run the score up, but the Gamecocks can’t put enough points on the board to put a major scare in the Hoosiers.
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