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Five takeaways from Indiana's win against Minnesota

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Five takeaways from Indiana's win against Minnesota


Indiana never trailed on Friday night and rolled past Minnesota, 74-62, at Assembly Hall. The victory improved the Hoosiers to 12-5 overall and 4-2 in Big Ten play.

Here are five takeaways from the win against the Golden Gophers:

Indiana’s energy was excellent from the opening tip

The Hoosiers needed to exhibit more energy, fight and cohesiveness following Tuesday’s loss to Rutgers at Jersey Mike’s Arena.

That’s precisely what happened from the opening tip against Minnesota.

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Indiana made things difficult with a solid defensive effort against the Gophers and took care of the ball offensively, which helped fuel a hot start.

The Hoosiers raced to an 11-2 lead and never looked back, leading by as many as 21 points in the second half. Minnesota coach Ben Johnson said postgame that his team played catch-up all evening.

“I thought the scouting report was perfectly fit going into the game, and they followed it right from the start,” Mike Woodson said. “We really defended the ball. We didn’t let their guards really get away from us in terms of getting downhill, so we really focused in on not giving straight-line drives where we had to help as much.”

The defensive pressure on the ball was more intense than usual and seemed to make Minnesota uncomfortable.

Several of Minnesota’s early shots were wild misses and the Gophers never got comfortable from beyond the 3-point line, shooting a dismal 3-for-20.

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Mackenzie Mgbako’s best game yet as a Hoosier

Freshman Mackenzie Mgbako showed off his complete offensive package in Friday’s win.

The five-star forward from Gladstone, New Jersey has primarily been a perimeter shooter but used his strength to get to the rim repeatedly against Minnesota.

When Mgbako wasn’t finishing at the rim, he was getting to the line. The 6-foot-8 forward attempted a team-high seven free throws, connecting on five.

He finished with a team-high 19 points in 34 minutes.

More important, however, was Mgbako’s defense. His minutes have often been limited this season due to his defensive shortcomings. He held his own on Friday, which allowed him to stay on the floor for a career-high 34 minutes.

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“He’s put the work in,” Woodson said. “He’s continuing to work, along with the rest of our young players. All we can do as coaches is continue to teach and push and try to get as much out of them as we can as we continue this journey.”

Trey Galloway scores efficiently, dishes out seven assists and defends

It was a night to forget for Indiana’s point guards, Gabe Cupps and Xavier Johnson. The duo combined for just two assists and two points in 47 minutes and 0-for-7 shooting from the field.

With both players struggling to score or distribute, Trey Galloway stepped up with one of his best all-around games of the season.

Galloway shot 4-for-5 from the field and made two of his three 3-point attempts.

More important, though, were Galloway’s seven assists. Five of those assists came in the second half as he found multiple teammates – Mgbako, Kel’el Ware and Malik Reneau – for buckets.

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Galloway also made his mark defensively as he helped hold starting Minnesota two-guard Mike Mitchell Jr. scoreless in 20 minutes. It was the first time this season the Pepperdine transfer, who has scored in double figures eight times, didn’t register a point.

Indiana shortens the rotation

After 11 players logged minutes at Rutgers, Indiana shortened the rotation against Minnesota.

The Hoosiers played nine players, and only eight logged double-figure minutes, as Kaleb Banks only entered the game briefly after Anthony Walker had a bloody nose late in the first half.

There were also no stretches in the first half with four subs in the game simultaneously. Even with the tighter rotation, Indiana did allow an 11-0 run in the first half that allowed Minnesota to climb within five points.

However, the Hoosiers dictated the game from the opening tip and Minnesota never seriously threatened to take control, particularly in the second half.

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While plus-minus numbers aren’t a perfect stat, all of Indiana’s starters logged a +16 or better in the win, while Johnson (-13), Walker (-12), and Gunn (-7) were all in the negative despite each playing at least 13 minutes.

Through six Big Ten games, Indiana has the league’s best defense and third-worst offense

Despite a pair of ugly losses at Nebraska and Rutgers, Indiana’s Big Ten record is solid at 4-2. The schedule gets much more challenging now with No. 1 Purdue coming to town and road trips to Wisconsin and Illinois.

Through six league games, Indiana is winning because of its defense.

The Hoosiers have allowed just .973 points per possession so far against Big Ten opponents, the top mark in the conference. Indiana held Minnesota to .872 points per possession, a season-low for the Gophers.

Offensively, however, the Hoosiers rank just 12th in the league with .992 points per possession.

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Several issues are contributing to Indiana’s offensive woes in conference play.

Indiana is turning the ball over on 19.1 percent of its possessions against Big Ten opponents, the third worst in the league. And its free throw shooting ranks last at 60.3 percent.

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

Filed to: Mackenzie Mgbako, Minnesota Golden Gophers



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Minnesota

Game Recap: Wild 4, Blues 2 | Minnesota Wild

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Game Recap: Wild 4, Blues 2 | Minnesota Wild


Scott Perunovich and Jake Neighbours scored, and Jordan Binnington made 24 saves for the Blues (8-11-1), who are 1-5-1 in their past seven games.

“It’s frustrating,” Neighbours said. “I think we’re generating, right. The looks are there. Kind of again the story is we’re not finishing on them. That’s just the way it’s kind of going right now. We just can’t seem to finish. I think there’s a lot of positive things. We’re creating and playing well and we’re in games. We’ve just got to find a way to win.”

Hartman’s first goal in seven games put the Wild ahead 1-0 at 12:24 of the first period. He scored on a shot from the right circle that trickled through Binnington.

Perunovich tied it 1-1 at 4:48 of the second period, beating Gustavsson over his glove with a wrist shot after he joined a rush and took a pass from Jordan Kyrou.

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Kaprizov redirected Jake Middleton’s right point shot at 6:07 of the third period to give the Wild a 2-1 lead.

“We had a good, strong forecheck and we created a lot of chances,” Minnesota forward Marcus Johansson said. “Every forward line has to be good in the O-zone and D-zone.”

Neighbours tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal at 10:37 when he redirected Pavel Buchnevich’s pass from the right circle past Gustavsson in the crease.

“Something we looked at in intermission,” Neighbours said. “[Assistant coach Steve Ott] spotted it. We kind of drew up a play for it and they weren’t really expecting the backdoor a little bit, kind of worried about [Kyrou] in the bumper and all the other options ‘Buchy’s’ got over there. Kind of left me alone and made a great play.”

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Minnesota House to split committee control in light of tie

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Minnesota House to split committee control in light of tie


ST. PAUL — Minnesota House leaders Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Springs, jointly announced on Monday, Nov. 18, that they will be splitting control of committees for the upcoming session as part of a power-sharing agreement.

The leaders said in a Monday

post on the official Minnesota House website

that membership of the standing committees will be equally divided among GOP and DFL co-chairs, meaning most bills that make it to the House floor will have already gone through bipartisan hands.

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The House is currently tied 67-67 leading up to the legislative session. The last time there was a tie was in 1979. Leaders of the DFL and GOP

said earlier this month they would come to a power-sharing agreement

, hinting at the possibility of splitting control of committees.

Leadership has not announced who will preside as speaker of the House yet, but Minnesota law states there can’t be two speakers.

If the speaker is not agreed upon before the session begins on Jan. 14, Secretary of State Steve Simon would temporarily act as speaker of the House.

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Two recounts of current DFL-held seats are set to occur in the coming weeks, though leaders suspect these recounts will not change the results of the tied House. The recount for House Seat 54A in the Shakopee area will be held on Thursday, Nov. 21, and the recount for House Seat 14B in St. Cloud will be held on Monday, Nov. 25.

Mary Murphy joined Forum Communications in October 2024 as the Minnesota State Correspondent. She can be reached by email at mmurphy@forumcomm.com.





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Minnesota Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin launches a bid to lead the DNC

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Minnesota Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin launches a bid to lead the DNC


Minnesota Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin has formally announced his bid to lead the Democratic National Committee, as the party attempts to piece itself together following a stinging defeat against Donald Trump. 

“If you’re looking for a creature of D.C., that’s not me. But I do know how the DNC works and how it isn’t working,” Martin said in a video posted to social media Tuesday morning, adding, “We need to reconnect our ideas — which we know are popular in red, blue and purple states across this country — back to our party and to our candidates.”

Martin, a DNC vice chair and leader of the Association of State Democratic Committees, has gained early traction with some delegates, according to interviews with several state DNC members. He joins Martin O’Malley, former presidential candidate who announced Monday he would run for the post.

Martin is a big backer of the DNC acting as an umbrella organization that strengthens state parties across the board.  

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“That’s certainly not the only thing that the DNC does, but it’s one of probably the most important partnerships that the DNC has is with its state party chairs, vice chairs, executive directors, who are on the ground running these programs,” Martin said in an interview last week. He calls it the 57-state strategy, including all 50 states and territories, as well as Washington, D.C., and Democrats abroad. “Whoever the next DNC chair is really has to, I believe, have a fierce commitment to making sure that they support the 57-state party strategy itself.” 

Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb is among those backing Martin, saying in an earlier interview that she was interested in seeking the ASDC chair post that Martin now holds. 

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler is also interested in a run.

“Ben is seriously considering a run,” a person with knowledge of Wikler’s thinking told NBC News on Monday.

Also, Rahm Emanuel — who is serving as the U.S. ambassador to Japan and was previously the mayor of Chicago, a congressman and chief of staff to President Barack Obama — has floated interest in the role, according to three people, and has done some outreach to DNC members, according to one person familiar with the matter.

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