Race Thompson leads Indiana basketball and earns MVP honors

Race Thompson led the depleted Hoosiers to an 87-68 win over Little Rock on Wednesday, earning his first MVP honors this season for Indiana basketball.

Stat line vs. Little Rock: 30 MIN | 20 PTS | 8 REB | 7/8 FG | 6/6 FT | 2 BLK | 2 PF | 0 TOV

Prior to the game tipping off, I would not have put Race Thompson as a guy that would earn MVP honors because of a stat line alone. He would probably be fifth on my list on this Indiana basketball roster.

Nevertheless, without Trayce Jackson-Davis, Thompson was the leader of this young Indiana basketball team, as he was the driving force that helped the Hoosiers pull away late in the win against Little Rock.

Xavier Johnson definitely had himself a great second half, which opened up lanes for Thompson and Miller Kopp to score, but the overall game that Thompson put together gave me a greater reason to give him the MVP honors.

TJD may be out again against Jackson State on Friday, so things might lie on the shoulders of “Headband Race” again if TJD can’t get dressed for the game.

The one thing that has shocked me about Thompson’s play thus far this season is his athleticism is really off the charts. He’s had three or four jaw-dropping dunks over the past two games and it seems as though he’s looking to make those types of plays, versus what we’ve seen in the past as him taking the safer route and just laying it up.

We hope to see more impressive plays from Thompson, and if he can fill the stat sheet again on Friday, don’t be surprised to see back-to-back MVP games from Race this week.