IU basketball: Indiana 80 SIU Edwardsville 61 — Three keys | Highlights

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana opened the 2024-25 season with an 80-61 win over SIU Edwardsville at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Wednesday evening.

The Hoosiers led 42-30 at halftime. They were led in the game by Mackenzie Mgbako with a career-high 31 points. Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo both added 15.

The three keys to the game, highlights and final stats are below. The Hoosiers (1-0) return to action Sunday against Eastern Illinois in Bloomington.

THREE KEYS TO THE GAME

1. Mgbako carries the load. Indiana sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako was on a heater from start to finish. The 6-foot-9 forward set a new career high with points. He made 13-of-17 shots overall, including 4-of-5 from three. Mgbako had 19 points in the first half, and another 12 in the second. His previous career high was 24 points at Maryland in March.

2. Improved guard play in the second half. The IU guards had a miserable first half, but Myles Rice and Trey Galloway both had productive second halves. Rice had seven points and two assists against no turnovers after the break after a four turnover first half. Galloway had five points and six assists in the second half, and a team high nine assists for the game in his first action coming off knee surgery. The Hoosiers shot 55.2 percent from the field in the second half and had 11 assists.

3. Defense forces misses, but… SIUE was not efficient from the field, making just 35.2% of their shots including 19 percent from three. That was the good news. But the Cougars got plenty of extra looks from the field due to 16 offensive rebounds. Those led to 14 more attempts from the field than IU, and helped SIUE keep things closer than the Hoosiers would have liked. The Cougars totaled 13 second chance points.

HIGHLIGHTS