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On Saturday afternoon, No. 16 Indiana played host to South Carolina, the Hoosiers biggest non-conference test of the season, inside of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Behind a strong first half performance from a trio of Hoosiers, a stout defensive display against the Gamecocks' leading scorer and a solid second half from Malik Reneau, Indiana outlasted South Carolina on Saturday, winning 87-71.

Here's how it happened on a beautiful autumn afternoon in Bloomington.

Through the first two games of the season, Mackenzie Mgbako was averaging 24.5 points per game. Mgbako poured in 31 points in Indiana's season opening win against SIUE and has been the Hoosiers' most consistent scoring threat this season.

The sophomore put together another strong performance against South Carolina. Mgbako totaled 17 points, 12 of which came in the first half, on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. He went 1-of-2 from 3-point range and converted six of his seven free throw attempts in the game.

The difference on Saturday was that Mgbako had some help. Indiana's starting backcourt of Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle both put together their best games as Hoosiers in the Saturday afternoon contest against the Gamecocks.

Indiana's starting point guard went for a game-high 23 points on Saturday. Rice went 7-for-10 from the floor and 3-for-4 from distance. He also connected on all six of his attempts at the charity stripe.

Rice got it going early, tallying 17 first half points. Rice went 6-of-7 from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point range, as he picked apart South Carolina's pick-and-roll defense. The Columbia, South Carolina native was confidently stepping into pull-up jumpers all afternoon long against the Gamecocks' drop coverage.

Meanwhile, Carlyle was finally able to get his shot to fall. After starting the season slow on the offensive end of the floor, Carlyle saw a couple of shots fall in the final minutes of Indiana's win versus Eastern Illinois, which carried over into the matchup with South Carolina on Saturday.

Carlyle ended the game with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 2-of-5 shooting from downtown.

South Carolina forward Collin Murray-Boyles entered Saturday afternoon's game averaging 20.3 points per game. However, due to foul trouble, and hard-nosed interior defense from Indiana, South Carolina's leading scorer failed to ever really get it going.

Murray-Boyles took just three field goal attempts in the first half of the Gamecocks' Saturday showdown with the Hoosiers. He picked up two early fouls in the half as well, limiting him to just two points in 11 minutes in the first half.

A lot of credit has to be given not only to Malik Reneau for his defense on Murray-Boyles, but also to Oumar Ballo, whose help defense was instrumental in slowing down the Gamecocks' leading scorer.

The second half was more of the same for Murray-Boyles. He picked up two more personal fouls prior to the under-16 media timeout. That forced head coach Lamont Paris to sit his leading scorer early in the second period.

With his team down by double-digits in the second half, Paris gambled with Murray-Boyles. South Carolina's head coach reinserted his leading scorer with 11:51 to go. It didn't take long, just 2:35, for Murray-Boyles to pick up his fifth foul and foul out of the game with 8:16 to go.

All told, the Hoosiers held the Gamecocks' top offensive weapon to just two points on 1-of-4 shooting. Murray-Boyles also turned the ball over four times.

Forward Malik Reneau got off to a slow start on Saturday against South Carolina. Reneau missed his first four field goal attempts of the game, before he finally managed to find the bottom of the basket.

The Hoosiers' junior forward was frustrated for most of the first 20 minutes of the game, going just 1-of-5 from the floor in 16 minutes of action. The second half was a different story. You knew it wouldn't be long before one of Indiana's top offensive threats got it going.

In the second half, Reneau dropped 11 points on a much more efficient 3-of-5 shooting performance. He also converted on one of his two attempts from 3-point territory in the second half. Another boost for Reneau was his ability to get to the free throw line in the second period, where he went 4-for-5.

Four personal fouls forced Reneau to watch a bulk of the remainder of the game from the bench, however his second half impact had already been felt as he helped the Hoosiers push their lead to as many as 18 points in the second frame.

Indiana is back in action on Nov. 21, when the Hoosiers play host to UNC Greensboro inside of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Tipoff is set 6:30pm ET on FS1.

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