Hoosier Men's Hoops: Previewing the Matchup with Morehead State
The Indiana Hoosiers may still be feeling a bit of the sting from the tough loss to the Kansas Jayhawks a few days ago. However, the team will need to rally together to move past that one with a forward thinking mentality. Losing is never a good feeling, but there was a lot to feel good about coming away from that game. The team hung with the 2nd ranked team in the country for the entire game.
Now, they will need to scrap that one from their memory and embrace the next challenge. Tomorrow night Morehead State, currently the top team in the Ohio Valley Conference, will come into Bloomington looking for a signature win. The team enters with an 8-3 record, riding a 6 game winning streak into the matchup with the Hoosiers. The 8 wins are impressive, however, the team has lost it's only 3 matchups against power conference opponents (including a beatdown by Purdue). They will be motivated to make a statement.
The Eagles are led by versatile 6'7" senior wing Riley Minix (17.5 points/8.5 rebounds/2.7 assists/2.8 stocks) in his first season with the program after transferring from a monstrous career at Southeastern University (NAIA). The graduate is supported by a talented corps of guards in Jordan Lathon (12.5 points per game), Drew Thelwell (11.8 points plus 5 assists per game), Kalil Thomas (11.5 points plus 4.4 rebounds per game), and Eddie Ricks III (8 points plus 5.9 rebounds per game). Dieonte Miles, the team's lone 7 footer, provides them with a viable matchup for Kel'el Ware.
From a team perspective, all eyes will be on the Hoosiers. This will be a great opportunity for Mike Woodson and the gang to resonate it's resilience. From an individual perspective, all eyes will be on Trey Galloway. After his career outing last Saturday night, he should have an abundance of confidence brewing within. He certainly does not have to pump in 28 points every game going forward, but the hope is that he can continue to reciprocate that assertiveness he showed against the Jayhawks going forward. The matchup with Morehead State will be his chance to prolong his progression.
Indiana has won all 6 matchups in the past between these programs, including a blow out early in the year last season. Our fingers are crossed that this year's team can push the streak to 7.