Off Tackle Open Thread: Nov. 9th Basketball

Recaps

Indiana Hoosiers 69, Florida Gulf Coast Eagles 63

Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

BoilerUp89: The Hoosiers offense was not pretty in this one, but a 14-0 run saw Indiana turn a 6 point deficit into an 8 point lead and they were able to cling to that lead the rest of the way. Shoutout to Zach Anderson of the Eagles who scored 19 points and despite being just 6’7 was able to fight for 7 rebounds against the bigger, stronger Hoosiers.

On the Hoosier side, four starters were in double figures, but the bench only managed 7 points. Depth looks like a major concern as four starters were forced to play between 31 and 37 minutes. Kelel Ware had 3 blocks to go along with 12 rebounds and 13 points. He appears to look much more like the 5 star recruit he was thought to be when he committed to Oregon than what he showed for the Ducks last year. One final thought: the Hoosiers play a center and two big, athletic forwards. The were matched in the rebounding column 33 to 33 including 13 offensive rebounds for FGCU. Malik Reneau had just 1 board. That’s the most obvious area that the Hoosiers can get better in quickly.

MaximumSam: Freshman Minute Watch was interesting in this one. Mgbako got the start. but had some issues defensively and played one less minute than fellow frosh Gabe Cupps. Cupps was impressive defensively, which is always the way to earn more minutes from your head coach.

Maryland Terrapins 68, Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers 53

BoilerUp89: It was a cold shooting night from deep in College Park as the two teams combined to shoot just 5 of 28 from three (17.8%). The Terrapins found other ways to score though with the expected contributions from returnees Julian Reese (18 points) and Jahmir Young (12). They were joined in double figures by Deshawn Harris-Smith who scored 12 points and looked the part of a top 30 recruit in his Maryland debut. Maryland led by as many as 22 points, and never saw their lead fall to single digits in the second half.

Iowa Hawkeyes 110, North Dakota Hawks 68

BoilerUp89: Another year, another high octane offense for Fran. The Hawkeyes had all five starters in double figures with Payton Sandfort producing 21 to go along with 9 rebounds. Iowa shot 12 of 24 from three and 18 of 20 from the free throw line. This team can shoot if nothing else. It will be another week until we see how they look against quality competition though.

Michigan Wolverines 99, UNC Asheville Bulldogs 74

Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images

BoilerUp89: If any team has me rethinking their potential after just one game, it’s Michigan. Dug McDaniel and Olivier Nkamhoua looked like difference makers in this one with both scoring over 20 points and being efficient doing so. The rest of the starting lineup wasn’t too shabby either, as Phil Martelli was able to coach the Wolverines to an easy win against Asheville.

MaximumSam: Definitely the most surprising result, as Michigan steamrolled a competent team and did it with outstanding offense. Their final offensive ratings was just over 138, subverting the thought that Michigan would lean on defense and struggle to score. A Michigan that scores is going to be a tough out.

Previews

#358 Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles at #11 Michigan State Spartans (-26.5), 6 pm, BTN

BoilerUp89: The Screaming Eagles are in year 2 of their transition to Division 1. They played better than I expected in the opener against St. Louis falling by just 12 points on the road. Surprisingly Southern Indiana does have 1 player that has played in the Final Four: Kiyron Powell played one minute for Houston during their 2021 semifinal loss to Baylor.

Michigan State is pissed off and Tom Izzo is publicly calling out upperclassmen for a lack of leadership in the locker room. An angry and highly motivated Michigan State will look to bounce back following their opening night loss.

MaximumSam: I’ll be on Freshman Minute Watch. Coen Carr played 28 against James Madison while Xavier Booker played just 5. Always fun when Izzo is mad at his team. Torvik goes MSU, 90-58.

#308 Florida A&M Rattlers at #43 Nebraska Cornhuskers (-25.5), 8 pm

BoilerUp89: Florida A&M lost to Creighton on Tuesday night 54-104. They were outrebounded 53 to 22 and only attempted 7 three pointers. That may have been good because they made just one. The Rattlers did not beat a single team in the top 300 of KenPom’s rating last year. Everything points to Nebraska being in a position to get deep into their bench in the second half.