With a pair of wins over mid-majors, No. 16 Indiana men’s basketball will get its first taste of power conference basketball when it hosts the University of South Carolina, a team that earned a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season.
With wins over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois University, the Hoosiers will have a seemingly tougher task hosting the Southeastern Conference’s Gamecocks at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.at 3 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
South Carolina started its season Nov. 4 with a 74-71 home loss to the University of North Florida. The Gamecocks missed 11 free throws, ultimately costing them the game down the stretch.
Regardless, South Carolina, after bouncing back with two straight wins, still poses a dangerous threat to the Hoosiers. Sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles leads the team in scoring and on the boards, with 20.3 points per game and 10.7 rebounds per game.
The task of slowing down the Gamecocks’ rising star will likely fall to Indiana junior forward Malik Reneau, who head coach Mike Woodson feels confident in.
“Malik has gotten better defensively,” Woodson said during a press conference Friday. “We just got to gauge it and see how Malik is playing him. I feel good he’s got to play Malik on the other end as well.”
Although he holds a one-inch height advantage, the 6-foot 9-inch Reneau is lighter than the physical Murray-Boyles, who is listed at 245 pounds. Their battle in the paint will be crucial for a pair of teams who have struggled to shoot the ball from beyond the arc.
Indiana holds a 35.3% clip from 3-point range while South Carolina has shot 29.7%, going 19 for 64 in a heavy sample size from the 3-point line across its first three games. The Gamecocks’ fondness of shooting the long ball has been a staple of head coach Lamont Paris’ offense.
Paris, now in his third season at the helm, was named SEC Coach of the Year and finished as a Naismith National Coach of the Year Finalist a season ago. After finishing 11-21 in his first year, Paris led South Carolina to a quick turnaround, posting a 26-8 record in 2023-24.
The former Wisconsin assistant coach will be back in Assembly Hall for the first time since 2017 as South Carolina looks to get back on track.
On the back of a 54-point second half, which fueled a 90-55 win over EIU, Indiana looks to keep things rolling against the Gamecocks. Still, a slow start that contributed to a 37-36 halftime deficit highlighted some weaknesses the Hoosiers look to solve.
“We just gotta clean up a lot of the little things and continue to grow in the areas where we are playing well,” Woodson said.
Saturday’s tipoff is set for 3 p.m. with the game streaming on Peacock.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa) and columnist Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer (@mateo_frohwer) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
