The Hoosiers travel to Evanston to take on the Wildcats,
43In four seasons at Indiana, Mike Woodson has earned a coaching win over every team that was in the Big Ten when he first returned to Indiana in 2021 except for one:
Northwestern.
The Wildcats have been a thorn in the Hoosiers’ side for years now. Indiana fell on the road in Woodson’s first season with multiple players unavailable due to suspension. The ‘Cats swept the Hoosiers in 2022-23 and earned a road win over last season’s ill-fated group.
One difference with this Northwestern team? No Boo Buie. Underestimate these Wildcats at your own peril though.
Here’s three things to watch for:
Go-To Guy: Brooks Barnhizer
Without Buie, Brooks Barnhizer has somewhat taken over as Northwestern’s primary ballhandler and initiator. He’s averaging 18.4 points, 9.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists on the season.
This is the Indiana native’s fourth year with the program, so it’s not like he doesn’t bring the necessary experience to this role. He’s just a different kind of player than Buie. He’s a tough cover for a few reasons.
For one, he’s 6’6”. That kind of size is probably too much for most backcourts to counter and Barnhizer uses that and his strength to his advantage, recognizing when he has a favorable matchup and posting up to get a decent look at the rim for a bucket.
If his man has a size advantage. Barnhizer has enough of a handle to create space for a shot. He’s crafty and has a few different ways to score.
It’ll be interesting to see how Indiana goes about defending Barnhizer. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up matching up with guys like Trey Galloway and Bryson Tucker, should he be healthy, to take away the size advantage he has over much of Indiana’s backcourt. Indiana could send someone bigger like Mackenzie Mgbako or Malik Reneau (also if healthy) but again, Barnhizer has ways to counter that.
Team Strength: Defense
Chris Collins has built his teams to win games in the Big Ten, which makes defense an absolute necessity.
His Wildcats have pretty frequently had solid defensives in KenPom’s efficiency metrics with occasions when everything lines up enough for a top-50 or higher defensive group. This team currently rates in as the 23rd best defense in the country.
The group has great size with most of its key players being 6’4” or above. You can’t teach size, but you can teach players to use it to their advantage on that end of the floor. Collins has done that.
This team is a pretty physical one. If you wanna score, you’re gonna have to work for it. Oumar Ballo is going to have his hands full in the paint and could end up at the foul line pretty often in this game. He’s gonna have to capitalize when he’s there because Northwestern is probably comfortable living with it rather than letting him get a clean shot off.
As for the rest of the Hoosiers? Galloway has plenty of experience with physical defense and has taken enough beatings as a ballhandler to know what’s coming his way. Myles Rice will have a speed advantage over most of Northwestern’s rotation and will have to use that.
If Indiana can find a way to capitalize off of Ballo’s gravity down low and get open looks from deep for Luke Goode, Galloway, Rice, Mgbako and others, they’ll have a solid chance in this one.
Key for Indiana: Getting Mackenzie Mgbako going
Indiana’s star wing is in the midst of an alarming cold spell.
He hasn’t hit a single 3-pointer since Indiana’s game against Penn State. That’s not for lack of trying, he’s taken a solid amount of shots from deep in each of the following games.
Since that offensive explosion in the opening minutes of the second half in the Palestra, Mgbako has scored a total of 16 points across four games. That’s just not good enough for a guy who should be able to reach that mark on a reliable basis in a single game.
When he’s not scoring, there just isn’t much he’s been able to offer. He’s had defensive woes since arriving in Bloomington last season and it seems like he’s made a point of getting after rebounds lately with the exception being Ohio State where he only pulled down two in 22 minutes.
Mgbako’s performance is key to this team’s ultimate fate. If Indiana can’t get him going it needs more from guys who can’t really be relied on to fill that scoring gap.