Indiana Scouting Report

Sam Bourne
Jan 16, 2024
4 min read

Updated: Feb 9, 2024

The Indiana Hoosiers travel to in-state rival, the Purdue Boilermakers, Saturday night in front of a rowdy Purdue crowd. Mike Woodson guided Indiana into two wins over Purdue last season, but fell to the Boilermakers by 21 points earlier this season. Going into the matchup, Purdue is seeking to stay atop the Big Ten. While Indiana seeks a marque win to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive along with some bragging rights.

Hoosier Offense

The Indiana offense has taken a significant dip with the departure of their All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis and first round pick Jalen Hood-Schifino. This years squad is led by sophomore Malik Reneau and a variety of guards trying to establish themselves offensively. On the outside, shooting has been a large question mark mainly because of the low volume (27.7 three point rate), although on decent percentages (33.1%). Indiana shot a near season-high 24 threes and knockdown 8 in their previous matchup with Purdue.

Player Profile

#5 - Malik Reneau

The former five star recruit has blossomed as the main offensive option. His blend of physicality and ball handling makes him a very talented scorer that is borderline unstoppable. He is extremely patient, waiting to dribble and looking for his favorite target Kel'el Ware if teams double him early. He tends to drive left or drive right to spin back to his left hand. Purdue's power forwards have to be strong and deny Reneau from the low block, with help defense collapsing as soon as Reneau dribbles.

#1 - Kel'el Ware

Coming from Oregon, Ware brings great length and size to the Indiana front court. He is a lob target and has had success with his jumper. His go to move is one or two dribbles before turning and shooting over his defender. He has struggled passing out of double teams. Purdue used Edey to limit Ware's physical advantages, Indiana barely used Ware offensively in the previous matchup. I expect Indiana to run more ball screens to use Ware as a roller instead of typical post ups.

#32 - Trey Galloway

The Senior starter has had big moments for Indiana, including a career high 28 points against the Kansas Jayhawks. He does most of his damage in transition going to his right hand. In the half court, he wants to turn the corner and get to his lethal floater going right or knockdown spot up threes. Purdue used Lance Jones on Galloway and gave up a lot of perimeter shots by going under screens and keeping him out of the paint, though he still had success in transition.

#21 - Mackenzie Mgbako

The prize off-season recruit that Woodson flipped from Duke has looked every bit like a freshman in the early parts of the season but has truly developed into a formidable scorer. He LOVES driving left and is extremely slanted towards shooting instead of passing. On ball defender is not giving up a drive to his left hand and not letting Mgbako get up open threes. Help defense focusing on crashing down on Mgbako to force turnovers.

#3 - Anthony Leal

The senior guard is averaging 6 points per a game over the last three games including the game winning shot against Ohio State on the road. He is a good connective passer that maintains advantages for the offense with quick unselfish decisions. Purdue will try to be close to him on the catch and force him to drive the ball.

#2 - Gabe Cupps

With the additions of Ware and Mgbako, Cupps fell under the radar but has brought much needed value to the backcourt. His best skill is his quick pass aheads to wings running in transition. In the half-court he looks to pass but will shoot a pull up that he has struggled to make. Purdue put Smith on Cupps to start and gave up some open jumpers to the freshman that has struggled to score this season.

#4 - Anthony Walker

The athletic power forward coming over from Miami, Walker brings a different pace compared to the starting front court. When he is in the game, Indiana tends to run their offense from the perimeter compared to through the post. He is an athletic slasher that wants to drive or cut to the rim and has struggled shooting from the perimeter. Purdue helped off Walker to clog the paint and got burned with Walker cutting for a layup. Purdue has to keep track of him cutting or on the offensive glass.

#11 - CJ Gunn

CJ Gunn is a complete wildcard for Indiana. Every time he touches the ball he is looking for any opening to score. He is a player that could have a Rob Phinisee type game that propels Indiana to a big rivalry win on the back of his hot shooting. Purdue will play him

Indiana's Favorite Offensive Sets

Horns DHO High Low

Cross Screen High Low

Floppy for Mgbako

Gut Zoom

Zoom Rip (Baseline Out of Bounds)

Hoosier Defense

Defensive Principles/Styles

Man to Man (Pack Line)

On Ball - hand checks on drives, sag off of non-shooters (Morton, Furst)
Off ball - Guards are sucked into driving gaps, bigs hanging around the rim
Ball Screens - Drop coverage on middle ball screens (heavy gap help), hard hedge on side ball screens, will switch ball screens.
Post - Bigs guarding the entry with a hand + foot over the top, forcing middle with a double coming from one pass away
Transition - three players consistently getting back

2-3 Zone

They go to the 2-3 zone when they are really struggling and only use it for one possession at a time

Predicted Matchups

Braden Smith - Gabe Cupps

Fletcher Loyer - Trey Galloway

Lance Jones - Mackenzie Mgbako

Trey Kauffman-Renn - Malik Reneau

Zach Edey - Kel'el Ware

Indiana Weaknesses

Middle Ball screens with the opposite slot position cutting behind the gap help. It is extremely important for Smith to use these screens well to create space, including rejecting a few screens.
High to Low action with bigs sealing
Mgbako navigating screens, closing out, or transition
Guards looking to draw fouls as soon as Indiana uses their hands. Smith has to be the aggressor against the Hoosiers, using his shoulder to create more space around the rim.
Edey being patient (Pump fakes, re-posts)