Big Ten Basketball: Buy or sell Michigan State, Rutgers, Ohio State and Indiana?

Indiana Hoosiers – Advance in the NCAA Tournament

Indiana did beat Florida Gulf Coast this week though it was a battle for all 40 minutes. What makes this more of an issue is that the Eagles were without arguably its best player, Isaiah Thompson. He averaged 15 ppg last season so the fact that the backcourt battle looked fairly even is a concern.

Xavier Johnson was fine overall, producing 14 points in 34 minutes. But he and starting guard Trey Galloway playing this much in league play is going to wear them both down. And it leads to an even bigger problem… the fit with Mackenzie Mgbako. The five-star prospect was the big-time offseason pickup but there were always concerns about his fit with the frontcourt duo of Kel’el Ware and Malik Reneau, who both played well in this game.

Mgbako ended up with just four points in 19 minutes, getting benched in the second half where Indiana made its run. On one hand, it’s good that Coach Mike Woodson made the adjustment and made the difficult move early on. On the other hand, if this has to be done to beat Florida Gulf Coast, what will they do against better teams?

And benching Mgbako isn’t good for the Hoosiers because they simply lack the scoring depth and high ceiling to be viable in league play. We’ll see how the freshman forward does in the coming weeks but the biggest concern everyone had with this roster came to fruition in the first game. And that’s worrying.

Sell