How To Watch, Game Preview and Game Thread: UCLA Bruins at Indiana Hoosiers
The Bruins continue their search for their first win east of the Rockies tonight when they visit the Indiana Hoosiers.
Indiana head coach Mike Woodson is the proverbial equivalent of a dead man walking. Last week, it was announced that Woodson will “retire” as the Hoosiers’ head coach, but, considering that Indiana has not played that well this season, it doesn’t seem like the 66-year old head coach is going all that willingly.
In the week since that announcement, the Indianapolis Star has already compiled their “Indiana basketball coaching search Hot Board 1.0.” Can you guess who isn’t on it?
Yup, you got it right. Steve Alford isn’t there.
And, if you had either the third paragraph or the sixth sentence in your “When will Joe mention Coach Howland’s successor?" pool, you’re a winner! Frankly, I would have had something earlier. After all, how can you write an article about UCLA vs. Indiana and not mention the worst UCLA men’s basketball head coach in recent history, given his connection to the Hoosiers as a player as well as a guy who would do just about anything to become the head man in Bloomington.
Suffice it to say that, given Alford’s performance at Nevada, there are just two chances that Hoosier Athletic Director Scott Dolson will ever hire Alford: slim and none. That’s due primarily to the fact that Alford has watching his winning percentage decline after it peaked at New Mexico where he won 74.9% of the Lobos’ games. At UCLA, he won 66.3%, and now at Nevada, he’s won just 61.4%. Ouch. Talk about a downward trend.
Remember when the UCLA administration kept trying to tell us how great he was because he had made three Sweet 16’s in four seasons? Well, in five-plus seasons in Reno, Alford missed the NCAA Tournament his first three seasons. When he did make it, his Wolfpack team was bounced in the First Four, and last season, they lost in the Round of 64. With Nevada sitting in seventh place in the Mountain West, he will likely need to win the conference tournament and earn the automatic bid to get them back there this season.
But, enough about the elephant in the room. Let’s look at Woodson’s starting lineup.
Indiana Hoosiers’ Starting Five
Woodson will start a traditional lineup featuring a pair of guards, a pair of forwards and a center.
Indiana seems to like to get the ball down low. That’s based on the fact that the team’s leading scorer is redshirt grad transfer Oumar Ballo. Of course, UCLA fans will recognize his name because Ballo spent the past three seasons in Tucson playing for Tommy Lloyd. Ballo leads the Hoosiers with 13.7 ppg this year, and his team-leading 36 blocks is almost three times as many as sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako who is second on the Hoosiers with 13. Finally, Ballo leads Indiana with 9.6 rebounds per game, which is not quite as many as the next two guys combined. Mgbako is third with 4.8 rpg and junior reserve Malik Reneau is second with 5.7 rpg.
In addition to those other areas where Mgbako plays well, he is also second on the team in scoring with an average of 13.0 ppg, which makes him the only probably starter besides Ballo who averages in double figures.
The other three starters are all averaging 8.7 ppg or fewer. Only senior forward Luke Goode is doing that, but his 41.4% three-point percentage makes him IU’s biggest three-point threat.
The two starting guards are both super seniors. Trey Galloway appears to be the team’s floor general. Galloway is just an assist short of 100 for the season, which means he will likely get that tonight, and he’s averaging 7.6 ppg. The other starting guard will likely be Anthony Leal, who averages just 3.0 ppg.
Considering the starters on IU’s roster seem to pack such little punch offensively, it really shouldn’t be a surprise that Indiana has two reserves who are averaging in double figures. One of those is Reneau, who’s averaging 12.7 ppg, while the other is redshirt sophomore transfer Myles Rice, who began his college career last season in Pullman, Washington, playing for the Cougars. Rice is averaging 11.0 ppg off the bench for Woodson and he’s second on the team in assists with 72.
Analysis
Whoever said that the whole is better than the sum of its parts may not have met this Indiana team because this team looks a whole lot better individually than it does as a whole.
Indiana is a completely different team at home than they are on the road. At home, the Hoosiers are 11-3 while they are just 3-5 on the road.
In fact, they are just 2-7 over their last nine games, which bodes well for the Bruins to get back on track tonight after Tuesday’s road loss to Illinois.
Personally, I’m expecting UCLA to come out tonight with a vengeance to show voters that they deserved to have been ranked earlier this season.
Listen to the Game With TMB
Tonight’s game will be broadcast on Fox with Jason Benetti and Robbie Hummel on the call. You can also choose to listen to Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray on the radio or online instead. To listen online, just right-click on the link below so that you can open up another tab and have it going while you chat in the comments below. Listen to tonight’s game online.
This is your UCLA men’s basketball vs. Indiana Hoosiers game thread. Here’s how to watch, listen and stream tonight’s game:
UCLA Men’s Basketball (18-7, 9-5)
Opponent: Indiana Hoosiers (15-10, 6-8)
Series Record: Series tied, 6-6
When: 5:00 pm PT, Friday, February 14, 2025
Where: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, IN
TV: Fox
Live Stream: FoxSports.com and the Fox Sports app
Radio/Audio
Local Radio: AM 570 with Josh Lewin and Tracy Murray
Satellite Radio: SiriusXM Ch. 380 (UCLA feed)
Online: uclabruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes:
UCLA
Go Bruins!!!
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Run some offense for Petes sake. Mack out of control!
Time for 2 games of home cooking back at pauley