Indiana is again on the highway for a Saturday afternoon tilt in opposition to Penn State on the Bryce Jordan Heart in College Park, Pennsylvania. The Nittany Lions are 13-14 general and 7-9 in Large Ten play.
Saturday’s sport ideas at midday ET on BTN:
Losers of three straight and 7 of their final 9, Indiana’s season is spiraling downward rapidly. The Hoosiers have dropped three straight house video games and have trailed by at the least 16 factors within the second half in every of its final 4 video games.
The Hoosiers are actually tasked with touring to Penn State, which already trounced the Hoosiers 85-71 in Bloomington earlier this month.
Wednesday night time, the Nittany Lions snapped a three-game dropping streak by beating Illinois 90-89 on the Rec Corridor on Penn State’s campus.
THE FIRST MATCHUP
Penn State marched into Bloomington on February 3 and crushed Indiana over the ultimate 25 minutes. The Hoosiers led 34-23 with 5:15 remaining within the first half and had been outscored 62-37 over the ultimate 24:45.
How did the Nittany Lions do it? 3-point capturing was a significant element within the runaway victory.
Penn State made 12 of its 22 makes an attempt (54.5 p.c) from lengthy vary. Jameel Brown and Zach Hicks every made 4 3-pointers within the win and Ace Baldwin Jr. made three triples.
An enormous a part of the 3-point success for Penn State was Indiana’s two-big lineup and its struggles defensively. Penn State repeatedly attacked Malik Reneau on the perimeter:
Indiana’s guard play was underwhelming within the Penn State win, which has been the case for a lot of the 2023-24 season.
Trey Galloway shot 5-for-14 from the sphere. Gabe Cupps scored two factors and had no assists in 33 minutes, whereas his counterpart, Baldwin Jr., went for 22 factors, eight assists and two steals. CJ Gunn and Anthony Leal mixed for simply three factors in 25 minutes off the bench.
One other regarding theme within the first matchup was Indiana’s lack of ability to stretch out the leads it constructed within the first half. The Hoosiers constructed three double-figure leads within the first 20 minutes, and every time, the Nittany Lions mounted a direct comeback.
All in all, it was arguably the worst lack of the Mike Woodson period, though which will have been surpassed on Wednesday when Nebraska dominated the Hoosiers.
TEMPO-FREE PREVIEW
All stats within the graphic beneath are through KenPom.com, are up to date by Thursday’s video games and are for convention video games solely.
The Nittany Lions aren’t a extremely environment friendly 3-point capturing crew, however they take loads of triples. Penn State ranks third within the Large Ten in its share of subject objectives tried from 3 (3PA/FGA) at 38.4 p.c. The Nittany Lions are scoring 31.4 p.c of their factors in convention play from 3, additionally the third highest mark within the league. Penn State is capturing 34.4 p.c on 3s in opposition to Large Ten opponents.
Taking good care of the ball might be pivotal for Indiana. Penn State has the second highest opponent turnover price within the Large Ten at 20 p.c and the Hoosiers don’t power many turnovers. The Nittany Lions received the factors off of turnovers battle 17-13 in Bloomington.
On the boards, Penn State is among the few Large Ten groups that’s worse than the Hoosiers. The Nittany Lions rank 14th in defensive rebounding share and thirteenth in offensive rebounding share. IU was in a position to seize 42 p.c of its misses in opposition to Penn State at Meeting Corridor, however scored solely 14 second likelihood factors.
WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO
The KenPom projection is Penn State by 5 with a 34 p.c likelihood of an IU victory. In response to Pomeroy, Saturday is Indiana’s finest remaining likelihood for a win in its 5 remaining video games.
Indiana has proven struggle at occasions in every of its final two video games, however sporadic effort and depth in opposition to Large Ten opponents isn’t sufficient to win video games.
In opposition to Northwestern, the Wildcats managed the sport all through till IU rallied furiously within the ultimate minutes. And in opposition to Nebraska, the Hoosiers had a robust spurt within the second half to shut a 22-point result in three earlier than working out of gasoline in a loss.
With little to play for when it comes to a postseason future, it’ll be fascinating to see what Mike Woodson can get out of this crew within the subsequent three weeks. Penn State, for all its faults, has been aggressive all season and has met the meager expectations it had for 12 months one of many Mike Rhoades period. If the Hoosiers solely play in spurts on Saturday afternoon, Indiana might be handed its first four-game dropping streak of the season.
Filed to: Penn State Nittany Lions
