Live Blog: Follow Indiana's Game Against Minnesota in Real Time
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana is in bounce-back mode for Friday's game against Minnesota at 6:30 p.m. ET. Coach Mike Woodson and the Hoosiers suffered an ugly 66-57 loss at Rutgers on Tuesday, dropping their record to 11-5 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten.
On the other side, coach Ben Johnson and the Golden Gophers are off to a 12-3 start, plus a 3-1 record in the Big Ten with wins over Nebraska, Maryland and Michigan. Having played the nation's 347th strength of schedule, it'll be interesting to see how they handle a difficult road environment.
Welcome to our live blog, where we'll provide updates, highlights and thoughts on the game from press row at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
8:39 p.m. Final: Indiana 74, Minnesota 62. That's arguably IU's most complete performance of the season. Mgbako led IU with 19. The Hoosiers are 12-5 overall and 4-2 in Big Ten play. Next up, Indiana hosts No. 1 Purdue (might drop) on Tuesday.
Here is Tom Brew's game story. CLICK HERE
8:35 p.m. – Mackenzie Mgbako has a season-high 19 points after knocking down a pair of free throws. He's 6-for-12 from the field, plus 2-for-4 from three and 5-for-7 at the free throw line. IU leads 74-58 with 1:33.
8:31 p.m. – Indiana has had a difficult time defending Pharrel Payne in the paint tonight. He's got a team-high 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting, along with nine rebounds and five blocks. The rest of the Gophers are just 14-for-48, though. IU leads 71-58.
8:28 p.m. – Woodson is trying a lineup now with both Cupps and Johnson together. That became somewhat common in the early nonconference games, but obviously haven't seen it in a while since Johnson's injury. Woodson wanted to start Jalen Hood-Schifino and Johnson together last year, but Johnson missed all but 11 games with an injury. IU leads 69-56 with 2:19 left.
8:23 p.m. – Anthony Walker goes 2-for-2 at the line, but Indiana continues to struggle at the free throw line this season. The Hoosiers are 11-for-20 tonight and went 4-for-15 on Tuesday. For the season, Indiana entered tonight's game ranked 304th in the country with a 66.7 free throw percentage. Hoosiers lead 67-51 with 4:20 left.
8:18 p.m. – Cupps is getting an earful from Woodson after a bad pass turnover. It's been a rough night for the freshman offensively, missing all four shots. That was just his first turnover. Along with Johnson, Indiana point guards haven't scored tonight, but Ware, Mgbako, Reneau and Galloway are all in double digits. IU leads 63-50 with 5:30 left.
8:16 p.m. – Indiana just 1-for-8 from the field in the last 2:48, but still maintains a 13-point lead. It's been a strong defensive effort from the Hoosiers, not allowing many open looks for Minnesota.
8:11 p.m. – A big key to this game has been Indiana's defense on Dawson Garcia, Minnesota's versatile 6-foot-11 forward. He entered the game averaging 16.7 points, but has just five points tonight on 1-for-4 shooting. His minutes were a bit limited in the first half due to foul trouble, but he hasn't been effective in the second half, either.
8:09 p.m. – Indiana executed a sharp out of bounds play drawn up by Woodson, but Galloway air-balled the three in the corner. He's got 10 points, six assists and three steals tonight, plus 2-for-3 from 3-point range.
8:05 p.m. – Johnson used a quick first step to beat his defender off the dribble, then dished the ball to Reneau for an easy layup. Johnson has been quiet tonight, 0-for-2 from the field in nine minutes of action with one rebound, one assist, one turnover and one steal. Cupps has played the majority of the point guard minutes, but he's 0-for-4. IU leads 62-45 with 8:51 left.
7:58 p.m. – IU leads Minnesota 60-41 at the under-12 timeout. Cupps' mid-range jumper rims out, and he's 0-for-4 from the field tonight. The freshman point guard definitely needs some time to develop as a scoring threat, but he's been solid defensively tonight and hasn't turned the ball over.
7:50 p.m. – Timeout Minnesota, and Assembly Hall gives the Hoosiers a big hand. They deserve it, putting together a major bounce-back performance after Tuesday's loss at Rutgers. The offense is clicking both inside and out, and Minnesota still can't get any easy looks. IU leads 58-37.
7:48 p.m. – Mgbako good from three in the corner, then Galloway splashes a three on the next possession. IU really starting to figure out this Minnesota zone. Hoosiers have their biggest lead of the night, 56-37.
7:44 p.m. – And now Reneau makes a nice lob pass to Ware for a dunk over the Minnesota defense, which has struggled in those situations. Ware is up to 17 points and eight rebounds of 6-for-9 shooting.
7:41 p.m. – A nifty pass from Galloway leads to an and-one layup from Ware. Galloway probably had a floater of his own open, but he flipped the ball over his head to Ware, who sunk the free throw. IU leads 48-35.
7:40 p.m. – Ware starts the half with two turnovers. Minnesota swarmed him in the post immediatley, and he couldn't find a way to pass out of it. Ola-Joseph scores the half's first points, and IU's lead is down to eight.
7:39 p.m. – Cupps starting at halftime, along with Galloway, Mgbako, Reneau and Ware. Johnson played six minutes in the first half.
7:22 p.m. – Half: Indiana 41, Minnesota 31. Gunn fumbled a last-second chance. It would have been a tough shot, regardless. Mgbako leads IU with 14 points, followed by Ware with 10.
7:21 p.m. – Mgbako drives hard to the basket again, missing the layup but drawing a foul. He goes 2-for-2 at the line, extending IU's lead to 41-31 with 20 seconds left.
7:16 p.m. – Christie fouled by Mgbako while shooting a three. It looked like the foul was because Mgbako didn't let Christie land, he got the initial shot off just fine. Christie goes just 1-for-3 at the line, though, so IU still leads 37-28.
7:12 p.m. – Mgbako is having one of his best games of the year so far. Gunn missed a layup, but Mgbako was there to clean it up. He made a slashing layup on the previous possession. The 6-foot-8 freshman now has a team-high 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting.
7:10 p.m. – Ware hits his second three of the game, pushing IU's lead back to 10 points. Minnesota had trimmed it down to five, but IU answered with two quick buckets.
7:07 p.m. – Minnesota is on an 8-0 run to cut IU's lead to 28-20 with 6:40 left in the half. The Hoosiers are having some trouble defending Pharrell Payne in the paint. He's got 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting so far. He averages 9.7 points this season.
7:06 p.m. – CLICK HERE to watch an alley-oop from Mgbako to Galloway earlier in the first half that got the Assembly Hall crowd excited.
7:04 p.m. – Free throw shooting has been a struggle, again, tonight. Indiana just 5-for-10 at the line after a 4-for-15 outing at Rutgers.
7:01 p.m. – A tough sequence from Reneau leads to his second foul. He turned the ball over, then tried to steal it back but made too much contact. He'll head to the bench for Ware. Braeden Carrington gets an and-one layup, cutting IU's lead to 28-16 with 8:31 left in the half.
6:58 p.m. – Johnson missed his first 3-point attempt of the game, but got a steal on the other end. He found Gunn in transition, who was fouled by Minnesota. Gunn goes 1-for-2 at the line, extending IU's lead to 28-12 with 9:17 left.
6:56 p.m. – Malik Reneau is off to an uncharacteristic 1-for-6 from the field so far. Minnesota is playing zone defense now, which allows them to dig down on post players like Reneau. He's missed some shots he can definitely make, but Minnesota also making things hard for him.
6:54 p.m. – Indiana president Pam Whitten and several Indiana women's basketball players are tossing out t-shirts to fans during the timeout.
6:51 p.m. – Indiana leads 25-10 at the under-12 timeout. Minnesota has made just one of its last seven field goal attempts, and they've turned the ball over four times already. Not able to offer much resistance to Indiana, either. Hoosiers 3-for-5 from three, plus 12 points in the paint.
6:49 p.m. – Xavier Johnson checks in for Indiana. He didn't start tonight's game for the first time in his Indiana career, seemingly as a punishment for his Flagrant 2 ejection at Rutgers.
6:48 p.m. – Indiana is close to running Minnesota out of the gym right now. Mgbako finds Galloway for an alley-oop, and the Assembly Hall crowd is loving it. Minnesota has no answer for really any aspect of Indiana's offense right now. IU leads 22-8 as Ben Johnson calls timeout.
6:46 p.m. – Good recognition from Reneau, realizing the much-smaller Mike Mitchell Jr. was guarding him on the perimeter. Reneau took a few dribble and backed Mitchell down for an easy layup.
6:45 p.m. – Galloway hits his signature floater, then Mgbako jumps the passing lane to force a Minnesota turnover. Ware knocks down a three on the other end. Indiana is 3-for-5 from 3-point range to start tonight's game. IU leads 16-8.
6:41 p.m. – IU leads Minnesota 11-4 at the under-16 timeout. Ola-Joseph hit two free throws after a Reneau foul. Overall, a good start for Indiana. Zero turnovers and made threes from Mgbako and Galloway. Minnesota just 1-for-5 from the field.
6:38 p.m. – Minnesota really struggling to get good looks on offense right now. The latest was a contested mid-range jumper from Garcia that Ware tipped away. Galloway with a nice pass to Ware on the other end, who got fouled and hit both free throws. IU leads 11-2 with 16:37 left.
6:37 p.m. – Reneau missed a three from the left wing, but Ware kept the ball alive. It ended up falling to Mgbako, who made a layup through a foul. He missed the free throw, but IU leads 9-2.
6:35 p.m. – Nice defense from Cupps to stay in front of Hawkins on the drive and poke the ball away. Ola-Joseph grabbed the loose ball, but Ware altered his shot and grabbed the rebound. It leads to an Indiana fast break, then free throws from Mgbako, who hits one of two. IU leads 7-0.
6:34 p.m. – Mgbako rattles in a three from the left wing, and Indiana jumps out to a 6-0 lead in the first 1:17. Great start for Indiana to get some confidence after Tuesday's poor performance.
6:32 p.m. – Kel'el Ware wins the tip and we're under way. Student section in full force in their first game back from break, getting loud as Trey Galloway knocks down a three on Indiana's first possession.
6:30 p.m. – Starters from Minnesota are Elijah Hawkins, Mike Mitchell Jr., Cam Christie, Joshua Ola-Joseph and Dawson Garcia. The Garcia-Ware matchup should be a fun one to watch, as they're two of the most skilled bigs in the conference. Hawkins and Mitchell are mid-major transfers and Christie is a freshman. The backcourt has very limited experience in Big Ten road games.
6:19 p.m. – The student section is full, but otherwise the Assembly Hall crowd is lighter than usual. It's been cold and rainy in Bloomington today and snowing throughout the Midwest, so that could be a factor for fans that were planning to travel.
6:06 p.m. – Senior point guard Xavier Johnson will not start tonight's game. This will be the first time in his Indiana career, 54 games, that he will come off the bench. Freshman Gabe Cupps will start in Johnson's absence. The four other starters remain the same – Trey Galloway, Mackenize Mgbako, Malik Reneau and Kel'el Ware.
5:15 p.m. – Indiana senior guard Anthony Leal and junior forward Payton Sparks were listed questionable, but both are in uniform and participating in pregame warmups. They look good to go for tonight's game. Minnesota did not list any players on its pregame availability report.
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- HOW TO WATCH: Here's how to watch Friday night's Indiana-Minnesota game, with TV information, the point spread and over/under, the coaching matchup, series history, predicted score, stats, rankings and more. CLICK HERE
- MEET THE OPPONENT: Minnesota is on pace to have by far its best season under coach Ben Johnson, thanks to strong 3-point shooting and a weak schedule. Here's a full breakdown of Indiana's Friday opponent, the Golden Gophers. CLICK HERE
- JACK ANKONY COLUMN: Indiana suffered arguably its worst loss in three seasons under Mike Woodson, a 66-57 defeat at Rutgers which included Xavier Johnson getting ejected, 18 turnovers and 39.75% shooting. The Hoosiers looked like a collection of players, not a team, who lacked a leader. CLICK HERE
- IU-RUTGERS GAME STORY: Almost nothing went right for Indiana in an ugly 66-57 loss to Rutgers on Tuesday night. They missed free throws at an epic clip, had 18 turnovers and gave up 19 offensive rebounds in their second horrible road performance in a row. CLICK HERE
