BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – When this writer was younger, he was obsessed with fun facts from encyclopedias. Nowadays you can find your solution on Wikipedia.

One of the fascinating things was the highest peak in each state. The range of highest and lowest elevations by state extends from Denali in Alaska (20,310 feet above sea level) to Britton Hill in Florida (345 feet).

This is brought up because the Indiana men’s basketball team hosts South Carolina on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Given that the Gamecocks will be the only non-conference Power Five school visiting Bloomington during the 2024-25 season, one could argue that this is the top of the non-conference home slate.

As non-conference peaks reach Indiana, file this one appropriately as Hoosier Hill. If you didn’t know, the Wayne County hill is the highest point in Indiana at 1,255 feet. It’s not the lowest peak in the country, but it certainly doesn’t threaten to be one of the highest.

In other words, Indiana’s non-conference game high isn’t very impressively high. Not compared to other seasons.

Kansas’ visit during the 2023-24 season was part of a nice pattern of at least one big-name non-conference team heading to Bloomington. North Carolina (2022-23) and St. John’s (2021-22) were other recent visitors.

Indiana didn’t host a Power Five team in 2020-21, but that was the COVID-19 season. Before that, Florida State and Arkansas (2019-20), Marquette and Louisville (2018-19), Duke (2017-18) and North Carolina again (2016-17) visited. All of these teams have more name recognition than South Carolina in men’s basketball.

Many of these games came about through the Big Ten-ACC Challenge Series that ended after the 2022-23 season. The Big Ten-Big East Gavitt Games series ended after the 2023-24 season. (Indiana did not participate in the final edition.)

Perhaps another set of challenges needs to be created? With the Big Ten being a FOX-oriented league, a series of challenges with another FOX-oriented property – the Big 12 – would be enticing.

In the meantime, fans will just have to settle for South Carolina until the Big Ten brings other brands to Bloomington.

Here are three things to watch for from Hoosiers:

1. Is Mackenzie Mgbako hot or is his high production the new normal?

Sophomore swingman Mackenzie Mgbako is off to a fantastic start for the Hoosiers. He’s averaging 10 for 13 or 14 (depending on how you want to split his half percentage) from the field, which is good for a healthy 24.5 average. He was almost as skilled with threes (66.7%) as with twos (77.8%) and Mgbako also rebounded well (8 RPG).

“You can put him in situations if you need a mid-range two, he’s been able to make shots. He finishes at the edge. I love everything about what he’s done from an offensive standpoint,” Indiana coach Mike Woodson said Friday.

Is this Mgbako’s new normal? Indiana fans certainly hope so. The production was built on the backs of two weak non-conference foes – Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois – so if he can do the same against South Carolina, it would be a an encouraging sign for Hoosiers that Mgbako’s production isn’t just a question. of the caliber of the adversary.

Woodson wants to see improvement on the defensive side of the ledger.

“I’m a lot on him defensively. Knowing our coverages and knowing when we have no errors. We had some in the first two games. You expect it because of all the newness we have,” Woodson said. “He’s been with me for a year now and I’m pushing him harder on the defensive side so I don’t make a lot of mistakes.”

2. Will Indiana keep South Carolina out of the foul line?

It’s only been two games, but Indiana has done a good job of preventing their opponents from walking to the free throw line. Over two games, Indiana’s opponents are averaging just 11 free throws per game. This ranks 10th nationally.

This statistical distinction will be tested against the Gamecocks. South Carolina averaged 26.7 attempts per game, 45th best in the country. The Gamecocks aren’t taking advantage of it as much as they should — they’re making 67.5 percent of their attempts — but they gave themselves a chance.

This will be interesting to watch, as one of the reasons Indiana hasn’t sent teams to the line is the lower caliber of competition and a few possessions where Indiana defenders didn’t contest the shots.

South Carolina runs its show via 6-foot-7 forward Collin Murray-Boyles (20.3 ppg, 10.7 RPG), so it will be worth watching to see if players like Malik Reneau and Oumar Ballo can defend themselves without making a mistake. If they can’t, then South Carolina will get to the line and the Hoosiers’ thin frontcourt will be taxed.

3. Will Indiana’s defensive effort be where it needs to be?

Purely based on the numbers, Indiana’s defensive picture isn’t bad at all — with a pretty big caveat that the Hoosiers played two Ohio Valley Conference schools.

The Hoosiers are 28th nationally in field goal defense (58 points per game against) and Indiana ranks 48th nationally in field goal defense at 35.9 percent.

However, none of this means Woodson is happy with the Hoosiers’ defensive consistency. Eastern Illinois shot 59.3 percent against Indiana in the first half before the Hoosiers clamped down with 16.7 percent shooting power after halftime.

“At first I thought our change was terrible. We weren’t up to it. You have to give them credit; they were shooting. Those are the things from a defensive standpoint that we’re trying to eliminate,” Woodson said.

“I didn’t think we put a lot of pressure on the field as they brought the ball up. We were a little on our heels. I thought the second half was reversed. We were up to it and our changeup was really good,” added Woodson.

Whether fair or unfair, Indiana’s defense is scrutinized. Rob Dauster of Field Of 68 posted a clip of Ballo not getting back on defense urgently during a transition bucket at Eastern Illinois.

A low blow? Your view may vary, but Woodson won’t tolerate poor effort on the defensive end.

“When I see things like that and guys don’t come back, that’s a cardinal sin for me in terms of defense,” Woodson said.

“When that ball changes hands, you have to go back and build a wall and not let guys follow you for layups. We did it several times in this match. This is simply unacceptable,” Woodson continued. “They know it. We made this very clear during the filming session. You try to build on that, not let it happen again and see where it takes you.