BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Hello to everyone from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall! Indiana men’s basketball plays its second game of the season with Eastern Illinois providing the opposition.

Indiana has already played Ohio Valley Conference competition as the Hoosiers defeated Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 80-61 last Wednesday. Eastern Illinois is battle-tested having lost 112-67 at Illinois and with a 97-61 victory over Division III Earlham.

Game action

• Indiana 7-5, 1656 1H. Indiana throwing it into the post again as a first option, but unlike Wednesday’s game, Ballo is passing out of double teams and finding open Hoosiers. Once on a nice cut by Mackenzie Mgbako. Another time when Malik Reneau was left by his lonesome under the rim.

• Indiana 9-8, 1550 1H. Not a lot of stopping power from either team so far. Panthers are not going to be able to handle this two-man game Indiana has going inside the arc. The Panthers have hit 2 of 3 from 3-point range.

• 18-18, 1155 1H. Eastern Illinois guard Nakyel Shelton is feeling it. He hit a pair of 3-pointers in a row, one with Kanaan Carlyle right in his face, as the Panthers took the initiative. Hoosiers still generating most of their attack at the rim.

Defense? What’s that? Indiana is shooting 61.5%. Eastern Illinois is converting at a 70% clip, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Mackenzie Mgbako has hit all three of hits shots, including Indiana’s only 3-pointer so far. Myles Rice has four assists already.

• Indiana 25-20, 915 1H. Luke Goode has made his first 3-pointer in an Indiana uniform. That had to feel good as he’s been cold to start the season.

• Indiana 27-20, 832 1H. Hoosiers starting to get out on the break. Trey Galloway has facilitated much of the action. Panthers have gone into funk as they haven’t hit a bucket in 2:36.

• Indiana 27-23, 755 1H. Mackenzie Mgbako picking up where he left off from the last game. Before he was subbed out for Gabe Cupps, Mgbako has 9 points on 4-for-4 shooting. He looks very confident on the floor.

Eastern Illinois has pestered the Hoosiers with timely shots. Every time the Hoosiers threaten to pull away, the Panthers answer with a bucket. The latest was a 3-pointer by Zion Fruster.

• 27-27, 625 1H. Lineup of Gabe Cupps, Langdon Hatton, Bryson Tucker, Trey Galloway and Luke Goode not getting it done offensively. Indiana quickly subs Mackenzie Mgbako and Myles Rice back into the action. Panthers on a 7-0 run.

• Indiana 30-29, 346 1H. Hoosiers playing with their food. Too deliberate on the offensive end. Apart from Mackenzie Mgbako, it doesn’t seem like anyone is willing to asset themselves on the offensive end. I know this tendency drives some Indiana fans nuts. The Hoosiers should be in attack mode at all times against a team like Eastern Illinois.

Eastern Illinois ballhandlers sometimes beating Indiana defenders off the dribble. Other times, Indiana has defended well for most of a possession only to concede a shot right at the death of the shot clock.

• Eastern Illinois 35-32, 200 1H. Timeout Indiana as EIU has made four buckets in a row. Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle have combined for a single point. I get that Indiana is trying to take advantage of its bulk advantage in the paint, but you have to get something from the backcourt besides Mgbako.

• Halftime – Eastern Illinois 37, Indiana 36. OK fans, grouse away! Some here at Assembly Hall did. A tiny percentage of boos at halftime.

Indiana should not be down at halftime against Eastern Illinois. Indiana’s backcourt – besides Mgabko and maybe Trey Galloway – has played like I feel: tired. I was up late writing stories about Indiana football. Not sure why Indiana would be so lackadaisical.

Eastern Illinois shot 59% in the first half, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. Indiana made 57.1%, but also mixed in eight turnovers and was only 2 of 7 from 3-point range. Oumar Ballo (11 points), Mackenzie Mgbako (9 points) and Malik Reneau (8 points) have provided 77.7% of Indiana points. That has to change.

Hoosiers have to wake up to avoid what would be a very embarrassing defeat.

• What’s frustrating from the Indiana perspective is that the players who are struggling have proven themselves at a high level. Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle and Luke Goode may be new to Indiana, but they’re not new to high-level Division I basketball. They seem restrained in some moments, too willing to force the issue in others. The classic question is it them or is it what they’re being instructed to do? I’m sure it’s a bit of both.

• Then there’s Indiana’s defense. Eastern Illinois hit a couple of guarded shots, but the Panthers should not be even with Indiana in fast break points 11 apiece. Eastern Illinois also has a somewhat surprising 18 points in the paint.

• Eastern Illinois 39-38, 1906 2H. Stoppage in play as Rodolfo Rufino Bolis falls awkwardly after he was fouled on a shot under the rim.

• Indiana 47-43, 1631 2H. Panthers took a five-point lead to start the half, but the Hoosiers have answered with a 9-0 run. All of it was scored in the paint and two of the buckets were on the break, something Indiana hasn’t been able to generate much offense from so far.

• Indiana 49-45, 1555 2H. After the last timeout, Indiana surprised Eastern Illinois as it pressed the inbounds pass. It paid off when Mackenzie Mgbako stepped in front a pass and got an easy dunk. Still, Indiana’s defense isn’t where it needs to be yet. EIU is 3-for-5 from the floor in the second half. Indiana has 16 assists on 21 buckets. That’s the kind of rate a team should have when it’s feeding the post as the Hoosiers are.

• Indiana 54-45, 1409 2H. A 3-pointer by Mackenzie Mgbako and an easy dunk for Malik Reneau added to Indiana’s 16-2 run. It’s been sloppy, but Indiana hasn’t been hurt by that in the second half.

• Indiana 58-45, 1251 2H. Bryson Tucker gets involved with a layup and Oumar Ballo gets a transition dunk against four Eastern Illinois defenders. Leading scorer Nakyel Shelton was down on the other end of the floor with a foot injury.

Panthers have missed eight of their last nine shots, including six in a row. Eastern Illinois hasn’t scored at all in 3:16. Some of those shots that were falling in the first half for the Panthers are not finding the mark in the second half.

• Indiana 60-45, 1149 2H. Shelton’s injury must have been minor because he’s back on the floor. The Eastern Illinois shooting drought continues as its now nine shots without a make. The Indiana run is up to 22-2. Hoosiers are keeping their turnovers (2) down and taking what Eastern Illinois is giving them. Indiana has matched its fast break point total for the first half with 11.

• Indiana 70-48, 903 2H. Indiana’s second half edge is 34-11. Once the shots started falling, Indiana’s defense got a lot better. It shouldn’t happen that way, but it so often does for all manner of teams. Conversely, once some shots stopped falling, Eastern Illinois resistance has crumbled. Also shouldn’t happen, but it often does.

• Indiana 72-48, 800 2H. Jakai Newton checks into the game for Indiana. Some thought he may never see the court in a real game, so it’s good that he’s getting some run.

Malik Reneau (9 points), Mackenzie Mgabko (9 points) and Bryson Tucker (6 points) are a combined 10 of 14 in the second half from the field. Included was Tucker’s first collegiate dunk.

Eastern Illinois is 4 of 19 in the second half. It’s just hard for teams playing at EIU’s level to sustain attack in games like this.

• Indiana 74-48, 708 2H. Interesting lineup on the floor for Indiana: Oumar Ballo, Trey Galloway, Myles Rice, Bryson Tucker, Jakai Newton.

• Indiana 76-48, 625 2H. Tucker got another dunk. See below.

• Indiana 76-49, 440 2H. Indiana’s second half edge is now 40-12. Put simply, Indiana played like a middling Ohio Valley Conference team in the first half and have played like a Big Ten contender in the second half. Among other things, Trey Galloway’s four second half assists have helped. So have three blocks from Oumar Ballo.

Eastern Illinois got rattled and now can’t make a shot for love or money. Panthers are a woeful 4 of 27 in the second half.

• Indiana 81-42, 244 2H. One thing this second half has accomplished is to give confidence to some Hoosiers who probably needed it. Bryson Tucker has had a solid second half with 10 points. Kanaan Carlyle made a 3-pointer … it was just good for him to see a shot fall down. Jakai Newton has had a couple of boards and can finally get past whether he can be on the floor or not. All good for Indiana going forward.

• FINAL – Indiana 90, Eastern Illinois 55. See? I told you (see below) it’s a 40-minute game!

On a serious note, Indiana’s penchant for playing underwhelming ball for long stretches does have to cease, but the overwhelming attack Indiana was able to mount in the second half (54-18 scoring edge) is a good way to go into a bit of a break this week. The Hoosiers next play in six days against another team with a direction in their name, but a bird of a different feather. The SEC’s South Carolina come to Bloomington at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Pregame

• Starters: Indiana – Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle, Oumar Ballo, Malik Reneau, Mackenzie Mgbako. So Ballo will give it a shot.

Eastern Illinois – Artese Stapleton, Nakyel Shelton, Zion Fruster, Rodolfo Rufino Bolis, Kooper Jacobi.

• Internet is sloooow in my corner of Assembly Hall. It always seems to be pregame and then it straightens itself out shortly after tipoff. I’ll update as possible.

• Late-arriving crowd at Assembly Hall. I’m sure a lot of fans were at Memorial Stadium into the night on Saturday. Saw the traffic gradually filing out of the parking lots last night from the press box. Yikes.

• Oumar Ballo is questionable today. Not ideal for the Hoosiers who lack frontcourt depth. We’ll see how long/if Ballo can play and how Indiana handles his injury situation.

• It’s a pretty easy trip for Eastern Illinois. Charleston, Ill. is less than two hours from Bloomington … and that’s being generous. If you know your roads over in that part of Illinois, Clarksville Road between Charleston, Ill. and Marshall, Ill. is your friend.

• I covered Eastern Illinois coach Marty Simmons for a long time when he coached Evansville and I covered Indiana State and the Missouri Valley Conference. A really good dude as Indiana fans who got to know him when he played for the Hoosiers can attest.

• Reminder to yourself if you get frustrated if Indiana has a dry spell in this game, especially early in the game: the Hoosiers are ranked No. 17 in the country and it’s a 40-minute game. If the game is in jeopardy in the second half, then by all means, hit the panic button, but it seemed at the first media timeout in the last game that there was over-the-top grousing about the way Indiana was playing. I know a segment of Indiana fans do over-the-top grousing as a weird point of pride, but at some point, it kind of gets to the point of parody.