6-Banner Sunday: IU beats Penn State and USC before a 25-point loss at Iowa

  • Jan 12, 2025 7:26 am in

Welcome to another edition of 6-Banner Sunday, a joint production between The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall, where we highlight the five most essential IU basketball stories of the past week, plus take a look at how the other IU sports programs are doing.

Indiana finally got a big road win this week to go with a home victory before being blown out at Iowa. Also, the women won away from Bloomington in a busy basketball week for Hoosier fans.

As usual, we will conclude with weekly shows and a look at other IU sports. This included a couple of preseason stories from the baseball and softball programs.

Here is what is in this week’s edition:

• Hoosiers beat Penn State at the Palestra
• IU pulls away from USC for fifth-straight win
• Indiana’s winning streak halted with a blowout loss at Iowa
• IU women edge struggling Northwestern
• Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows
• Hoosier Roundup

IU men’s basketball will play six games this season on Peacock and the women will play five contests on Peacock, making the streaming service a must-have for IU basketball fans. Sign up for Peacock using Inside the Hall’s link to help support the site and also enjoy Big Ten hoops all season long! In total, over 70 men’s and women’s games featuring Big Ten teams will air on Peacock this season (The link is an Inside the Hall affiliate link, so a commission will be paid to ITH if you click and subscribe to Peacock.)

Banner #1 – Hoosiers beat Penn State at the Palestra

IU has had some difficulty with Penn State in recent years. However, the contest last Sunday afternoon was their best-played game of the season.

Malik Reneau was still out with an injury, but Oumar Ballo had a massive day with 25 points while being the only post player in the lineup. Given the modern game is more based on shooting, having four guards and wings surrounding a single center may be more effective.

Mackenzie Mgbako added 20 points and scored the first eight out of halftime to break a tied score. From there, the Hoosiers built a double-digit lead before holding on late for a signature 77-71 victory away from Bloomington.

Afterward, IU coach Mike Woodson spoke, Ryan Corazza wrote a Minute After and Film Session, Alex Bozich put together Five Takeaways, and Kevin Vera penned a column about the breakthrough win.

Banner #2 – IU pulls away from USC for fifth-straight win

While it started badly for Indiana against USC, the finish was top-notch. Once again Ballo was dominant inside as the lone big man with a team-leading 23 points. Like against Penn State, the contest was tied at halftime before the Hoosiers pulled away for a comfortable 82-69 win at Assembly Hall.

Afterward, IU coach Mike Woodson spoke, Inside the Hall had a photo gallery, Ryan Corazza wrote a Minute After and Film Session, Alex Bozich put together Five Takeaways, and Will Foley penned a column about overcoming the sluggish start.

Banner #3 – Indiana’s winning streak halted with a blowout loss at Iowa

While Indiana basketball has been up and down at best since the turn of the century, they had always played reasonably well against Iowa. However, in recent times, this has changed with this current regime. The struggles against the offensive-minded Hawkeyes have been worse against them than seemingly any other conference opponent under this staff.

Saturday night was no different, as Iowa ran the Hoosiers out of the gym by a count of 85-60. This blowout defeat continues a trend in the last few seasons of setbacks more often than not being by large margins.

Afterward, IU coach Mike Woodson spoke, and Ryan Corazza wrote a Minute After.

With this week’s results, Indiana sits at 13-4 and 4-2 in the league. This contest with the Hawkeyes started a difficult stretch that will make or break the team’s postseason hopes. Either way, though, they moved up in the Inside the Hall power rankings and are back in the NCAA tournament discussion after the recent better play that was halted on Saturday. However, if close victories and lopsided defeats continue, the Hoosiers could miss the postseason with a solid record as these types of results destroy metrics.

The Hoosiers return home with a showdown against one of the better teams in the league on Tuesday when Illinois invades Assembly Hall. Tipoff is at 7 pm and will be streamed live on Peacock.

Banner #4 – IU women edge struggling Northwestern

After giving No. 1 UCLA all they could handle last week, the Hoosiers struggled mightily on Wednesday at a Northwestern squad that is arguably the worst in the conference. The Hoosiers trailed late before Shay Ciezki hit a three-pointer with 1:05 left to put IU up by two. From there, a Lily Meister layup and late free throws allowed Indiana to hold on 68-64 and avoid a disastrous defeat. Assembly Call was one of a few media outlets to be on-site in Evanston and wrote a recap about the victory.

IU stays on the road today at 3 p.m. ET on Peacock when they head to Iowa to play a squad that no longer has Caitlin Clark but is still solid. The Hoosiers must be much better than against the Wildcats to have a chance. Indiana sits at 11-4 overall and 3-1 in the league while remaining on track for a sixth straight NCAA tournament.

Banner #5 – Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows

Podcast on the Brink was recorded twice this week. The first one recapped the Penn State win with Inside the Hall’s own Ryan Corazza. Meanwhile, the second one previewed the Iowa contest with former IU media member and now Iowa beat writer for the Des Moines Register Tyler Tachman.

The Back Home Network was on-air multiple times in the last few days. Assembly Call PostgameCrimson CastDoing The Work, and Dribble Drive had episodes this week.

Banner #6 – Hoosier Roundup

• Baseball’s Devin Taylor led several Hoosiers receiving preseason honors by being named an All-American. Also, season tickets are now on sale.

• Softball had two players make the preseason top 100.

• Volleyball completed their signing of the highest-ranked freshman class in program history, which included two high school All-Americans.

• Swimming and diving beat highly-ranked Michigan. They also had four athletes honored by the Big Ten.

• Wrestling fell to Rutgers.

• Men’s Tennis had a player receive a preseason honor from the Big Ten.

• Finally, IU’s legendary radio broadcaster Don Fischer was named the Indiana Sportscaster Of The Year.

Thanks for your continued support of The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall. We’ll be back next weekend with a new roundup.

Now go enjoy yourself a 6-banner Sunday.

Aaron (Ari) Shifron
Assembly Call Contributor

To receive 6-Banner Sunday in your inbox each week, enter your email address and choose the free subscription option from our friends at The Assembly Call.

Filed to: