Five takeaways from Indiana’s win against Penn State at the Palestra
Indiana improved to 12-3 overall and 3-1 in Big Ten games with a 77-71 win against Penn State on Sunday at the Palestra.
Here are five takeaways from the win against the Nittany Lions:
An early second-half run provided the separation IU needed
Tied at 29 at halftime, Indiana blitzed Penn State in the first three minutes of the second half.
Sophomore Mackenzie Mgbako scored eight quick points to make it 37-29 and forced Mike Rhoades to take a timeout with 18:48 to play.
The Hoosiers didn’t stop there.
Out of the timeout, a missed layup by Puff Johnson led to a Myles Rice layup in transition. After Penn State failed to capitalize on its next possession, Indiana pushed the lead to 41-29 on a second-chance bucket by Oumar Ballo with 17:11 remaining.
That 12-0 run to start the second half flipped the momentum of the game and Penn State never truly recovered. The Nittany Lions were playing catchup for the entirety of the second half, but the Hoosiers led for the duration in recording their first Big Ten win away from home.
Oumar Ballo dominated the paint for a second straight game
Oumar Ballo was terrific in IU’s 84-74 win against Rutgers on Thursday night in Bloomington. Returning from a one-game absence, Ballo finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots in 32 minutes.
Ballo was even better on Sunday afternoon at the Palestra.
The Koulikoro, Mali native recorded his second 25-point game of the season in IU’s win. Ballo finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. The 7-footer battled foul trouble down the stretch minutes. He committed his third foul with 9:20 left and his fourth with 7:25 to play.
It was his seventh game with 10 or more rebounds and his third double-double in an IU uniform.
Through 14 games, Ballo is shooting 66.7 percent on 2s and 56.7 percent from the free throw line. Both numbers are up from last season. Ballo currently has the highest free throw rate (FTA/FGA) in the Big Ten at 94.6 percent.
He also ranks 12th in the Big Ten in block percentage, fourth in offensive rebounding percentage and fifth in defensive rebounding percentage.
Indiana withstands Penn State’s pressure defense
Penn State thrives on speeding its opponents up and forcing turnovers that lead to transition points. Entering Sunday’s game, Penn State ranked in the top ten nationally in opponent turnover percentage.
While the Nittany Lions won the points off of turnovers and fastbreak points battles, the Hoosiers didn’t cave from the pressure.
Penn State opponents had been averaging 17 turnovers per game entering the game and Indiana committed 14 on Sunday afternoon.
Indiana has made significant growth throughout the season in taking care of the ball. The Hoosiers now rank 189th nationally in turnover percentage, according to KenPom, at 17.8 percent.
Perimeter shooting comes through with another strong performance
After making a season-high 12 3-pointers on Thursday against Rutgers, Indiana stayed hot from the perimeter at the Palestra.
Most of the damage came in the second half for Indiana. The Hoosiers shot just 2-for-11 (18.2 percent) in the first 20 minutes, but heated up quickly after intermission.
Indiana went 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) on 3s in the second half and finished 9-for-23 (39.1 percent).
Mgbako was the standout performer from deep in the win. The Gladstone, New Jersey, native made four triples on his way to 20 points. Mgbako had 15 points in the second half.
Luke Goode, who has started the last three games, also stayed hot from distance. After his 3-for-5 mark on Sunday, Goode is now 6-for-10 from deep over IU’s previous two games and up to 34.8 percent for the season. Goode is 9-for-21 (42.9 percent) in Big Ten games on 3s.
Indiana picks up its first resume-building win
It’s no secret Indiana’s NCAA tournament resume was lacking when Big Ten play resumed on Thursday.
The win against Rutgers was Quad 3 according to the NCAA’s NET rankings, which didn’t move the needle in bolstering the program’s resume for March.
Sunday’s win, however, was more meaningful.
The win against the Nittany Lions was Indiana’s first to fall into Quad 1, according to the NET. The Hoosiers were previously 0-2 in Quad 1 games.
Given the strength of the Big Ten, the Hoosiers have plenty of chances over the next 16 games to continue building a resume. To get closer to the NCAA tournament bubble, IU must continue to hold serve in Bloomington while picking off a few more road wins.
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
Filed to: Penn State Nittany Lions