Indiana’s Mackenzie Mgbako, Trey Galloway Battling Injuries Before Purdue Game

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana’s extended break may have come at a good time.

After a 72-68 loss Friday against UCLA, the Hoosiers have eight full days without a game before hosting No. 13 Purdue Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET.

That’s certainly an anomaly in Indiana’s Big Ten schedule, as it typically plays every three-to-five days. But it’s also the Hoosiers’ longest break of the season and their most time off since Dec. 21 and Dec. 29 games against Chattanooga and Winthrop.

It could be beneficial in getting a few key players ready to go for the upcoming rivalry game against Purdue. On Monday’s Inside Indiana Basketball radio show, associate head coach Kenya Hunter filled in for Mike Woodson and noted that Mackenzie Mgbako and Trey Galloway have been dealing with injuries.

Against UCLA, Mgbako started out strong with six quick points. But at the 12:49 mark, he limped off the court and into a tunnel at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall with Indiana medical staff and did not return for the rest of the half. Indiana went into half trailing 35-25 and could have really used his scoring ability.

“That was a big loss for us because when Mackenzie scores, that’s when he’s at his best. Coming out and being aggressive, we needed him to do that,” Hunter said. “… When he went down with the injury, we didn’t know how severe it was, but they did a really good job at halftime. We asked him if he could go and he came back and battled back and made some big buckets for us, even in the second half. It was good to have him back on the court.”

Mgbako scored eight points in the second half as Indiana turned a 13-point deficit into a two-point game with 53 seconds remaining. But Indiana went 1 for 8 from the field in the final two minutes, including a missed 3-pointer from Mgbako, which could have been the game-winner.

Fischer noted on the radio show that Mgbako turned his ankle in the UCLA game, and Hunter gave an update on the sophomore’s status.

“[Mgbako] is gonna be out for a little bit,” Hunter said Monday. “But hopefully he’ll be back for Sunday’s game.”

Fischer also mentioned that Galloway has had some injuries this season that people don’t know about, though he did not specify.

“Yes he has, and he’s battled through it,” Hunter confirmed. “But that’s – Trey is a tough kid, we’re depending on him a lot.”

Galloway had offseason knee surgery to repair a meniscus injury that held him out of the 2024 Big Ten Tournament. Indiana eased him back into the rotation this season, bringing him off the bench for an average of 18.4 minutes per game in the first five contests.

But in Big Ten play, Galloway is logging 29.8 minutes per game, including 37 minutes against UCLA and 30-plus minutes in eight of the last 12 games. Galloway’s field goal percentage has dropped to 42%, the lowest since his freshman year in 2020-21, and his scoring average has fallen from 10.6 last season to 7.5 this year.

Despite some inconsistent play, Galloway is leading the Hoosiers with 105 assists – Myles Rice is next with 73. Perhaps his best game of the season was a 15-point, six-assist performance at Purdue, which was nearly enough to lead the Hoosiers to an upset win.

After beating the Hoosiers 81-76, coach Matt Painter said Purdue was fortunate Galloway didn’t have the ball in his hands when Indiana had a chance to tie or win the game in the final seconds. Hunter noted that Indiana needs better guard play from Rice and Kanaan Carlyle, but they’re going to continue to lean on Galloway down the stretch.

“You ride or die with Gallo because he puts all of his effort and he gives his all,” Hunter said.  “Again, you’re playing 30-something minutes a game and it’s asking a lot of a guy that had a serious injury that he was coming back and finding his rhythm. But at the end of the day, we gotta depend on him to continue to make plays and other guys hopefully step up and make some plays here down the stretch.”