Penn State men’s basketball (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten) was beaten by Indiana (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten) 77-71 at the Palestra on Sunday.

After a neck-and-neck first half, the Hoosiers opened up the second half with a 12-0 run that spelled doom for the Nittany Lions as they fought back to within two, but couldn’t recover.

How It Happened

Mike Rhoades rolled out the typical starting five on Sunday, and Yanic Konan Niederhauser won the tip as Puff Johnson laid one in for the first score of the day.

Oumar Ballo answered for the Hoosiers before Konan Niederhauser put the Nittany Lions back in front early. Penn State cashed in on an Indiana miss and Ace Baldwin Jr. hit a jumper from the free-throw line to go up 6-2.

Luke Goode was fouled by Baldwin but made the shot and the subsequent free throw and the Nittany Lions were up by one as Miles Goodman checked into the game. Goodman made an impact quickly with an assist to Baldwin under the basket.

Indiana answered but a shot clock violation by the Nittany Lions gave the ball back to the Hoosiers. They took advantage of the miscue and Mackenzie Mgbako hit a second-chance three to take their first lead of the game. The first media timeout came with Indiana leading 13-10.

Nick Kern Jr. registered a steal out of the timeout and Konan Niederhauser was fouled by Goode. Hicks hit a jumper but Indiana answered to keep the Hoosier lead at three with a little over six minutes gone in the game.

Konan Niederhauser grabbed a rebound and fed Kern, who connected on a layup. After misses from both sides, Ballo hit to push the Hoosier lead back to three. A tie-up forced the second media break of the game with Indiana up 17-14.

Johnson connected out of the timeout before Ballo was fouled by Kern on the opposite end. Ballo made one free throw and the Hoosiers led 18-16.

Goodman scored his first points of the game after a miss by Baldwin from beyond the arc to tie the game at 18-18. Johnson scored more points from the paint on a nice assist from Baldwin before forcing an Indiana turnover. Baldwin registered another dime on a pass to Kern who slammed it down and pushed the Nittany Lion lead to four. Ballo had a slam of his own on the other end at the midpoint of the first half.

Konan Niederhauser re-entered the game and immediately blocked Ballo and took possession. Baldwin was called for an offensive foul and the ball went back to the Hoosiers. Jahvin Carter gave the Nittany Lions another jolt of energy with an and-one that he converted from the stripe.

Hicks picked up his second foul with 5:32 left in the first half and headed to the bench with Penn State nursing a two-point lead.

Freddie Dilione took a step-back three but couldn’t convert before a travel on the opposite end gave possession back to Penn State with the score tied at 27-27.

After trading misses, for over three minutes, Ballo slammed home a dunk with under two minutes left that gave Indiana a 29-27 lead. Ballo was called for an offensive foul that gave the Nittany Lions possession with a minute left in the first half.

Kern was fouled on the offensive end and made both of his free throws to tie the game back up at 29-29. Baldwin checked back in for the final possession of the half but two misses sent the game to the break still tied at 29-29.

The second half began with a miss from Myles Rice before Mgbako hit from three. The Nittany Lions grabbed an offensive rebound on the other end but couldn’t convert as Indiana went the other day. Mgbako hit twice more and Indiana started the half with an 8-0 run, forcing a Penn State timeout.

Rice made a fastbreak layup out of the timeout and the Nittany Lions trailed 39-29. The 10-0 run became a 12-0 run when Ballo made a shot off a rebound before Dilion laid one in for the Nittany Lions’ first points of the second half.

Goode answered with a three, but Konan Niederhauser hit a layup at the opposite end to push the score to 44-33 and ushered in the first media timeout of the half. Baldwin got the team back to within ten with a layup before Konan Niederhauser grabbed a rebound and eventually threw one down on the other end.

Hicks tried to hit a three to get the lead down to five, but the struggles continued as the Nittany Lions were then 0-11 from three. Baldwin narrowed the gap to 12 on two made free throws a few minutes later.

Kern made a layup that brought the lead back down to 11, but Indiana grabbed an easy layup on the next possession before the Hoosiers called a timeout with just over ten minutes left in the half.

The Hoosier lead ballooned to 16 before Dilione and Kern combined on a 6-0 run that brought it back down to 10 at 61-51.

After a review, Dilione was given a flagrant I foul after getting tangled up with Anthony Leal, but he could only hit one free throw. Dilione went to the hoop at the opposite end but missed the and-one opportunity.

After a miss from Indiana, Kern was fouled and made one of his two shots, cutting the deficit to eight. Mgbako nailed another three and the lead was back to 11 at 65-54. Ballo picked up his fourth foul as Konan Niederhauser hit one foul shot.

Penn State’s first made three of the game came with 6:40 left when Dilione took a feed from Kern and cashed in to get the score to 65-58. Hicks picked up an assist when Kern made a three of his own and the Nittany Lions found themselves back within four.

Baldwin picked up an offensive rebound and Dilione was fouled but missed both of his free throws. Ballo was fouled at the other end but could only hit one to push the lead back to six. Rice hit two free throws and Penn State trailed 71-63. Hicks then went to the line and hit both.

A Baldwin layup and one Kern free throw brought the Hoosier lead down to five before a turnover led to a Hicks three that had the Nittany Lions back to within two. A ten-second violation gave the ball back to Penn State with a minute and a half left in the game.

Hicks missed a field goal and Rice was fouled under the basket while Penn State was trailing 75-71. Rice hit both shots and the lead went to six with less than 30 seconds remaining in what ended up being the final points of the game.

Takeaways

• 26 of Penn State’s 29 first-half points came from the in the paint, and the other three were off free throws. The Nittany Lions went 0-8 from three-point land in the first half and finished 3-21 from beyond the arc.
• While normally a strength, the Nittany Lions’ defense in the second half was lackluster as they were outscored 12-0 in the first few minutes.
• After going 3-3 in the first half, Penn State ran into trouble at the free throw line, finishing 10-17 from the charity stripe.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions are back in action against Illinois at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, January 8, in Champaign, Illinois.