Indiana basketball vs. Rutgers: Freshmen show up & more predictions

#1. Jalen Hood-Schifino goes for a career-high 15 points & Malik Reneau makes plays with 4+ assists as the freshman show out in their first Big Ten game

Jalen Hood-Schifino showed why he’s one of the best freshmen in the nation on Wednesday. Aside from scoring the Hoosiers’ first six points of the game and leading the offense, Hood-Schifino plays with a swagger and quiet confidence that we just haven’t seen from an Indiana basketball freshman in a long time.

Hood-Schifino finished with a career-high 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting, and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, but his 10 shots were much lower than what I expected, especially with him totaling 12 points in the first half alone.

Unfortunately for Malik Reneau, he managed just 11 minutes of game action and totaled two points on 1-for-6 shooting, three rebounds, and three personal fouls. The foul trouble hurt him early, but he couldn’t seem to find his touch around the rim against Armando Bacot or Pete Nance.

Hood-Schifino will finish with a career-high in points with at least 15 points, and Reneau will make plays out of the post and fast break against a smaller Rutgers team with a career-high four assists. The freshmen show that they are not afraid of some physicality from Big Ten players.