No. 17 Indiana wins home opener over SIU Edwardsville

Indiana men’s basketball officially began its 2024-25 season on Wednesday as they took on Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.

The Hoosiers took care of business winning 80-61 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall last night.

Sophomore Mackenzie Mgbako had a career high 31 points, which lead both teams in scoring. Three other IU players scored in double digits as well, Malik Reneau (15), Oumar Ballo (15) and Myles Rice (11).

Wednesday was a solid offensive performance overall for Indiana. The Hoosiers shot 52.6 percent from the field, 37.5 percent on 3s and scored 80 points.

Indiana missed the mark in taking care of the ball, which made the final score closer than it should have been.

The Hoosiers turned the ball over 16 times in the win, for a turnover percentage of 22. 

Indiana held a 43-34 rebounding edge, but SIUE collected 16 offensive rebounds and scored 13 second-chance points. The Cougars forced 16 Indiana turnovers while turning the ball over just 12 times themselves. SIUE scored 36 points in the paint and outscored Indiana 15-12 on fast-break points. With the size of their front court IU should not be getting beat inside by such an inferior team on the boards and that's something they''ll need to work on in non-conference play.

Woodson admitted postgame that the team is still searching for its offensive identity. I thought he (Mackenzie Mgbako) was the only one who truly played pretty good offense tonight,”Mike Woodson said postgame.

“A big thing is defense creating offense,” he said postgame. “Being able to know the reads on the defensive side, that leads to offense.”

Indiana host Eastern Illinois at home Sunday, November 10th, noon tip off time.