Penn State men’s basketball (15-14, 5-13 Big Ten) was beaten by Indiana (17-11, 8-9 Big Ten) 83-78 on Wednesday night in Bloomington, Indiana.

Ace Baldwin Jr. led the way with 22 points in a back-and-forth affair. The Nittany Lions led for the majority of the game, but a late push from the Hoosiers was too much for Penn State to overcome.

How It Happened

Mike Rhoades rolled out Baldwin, D’Marco Dunn, Freddie Dilione V, Zach Hicks, and Yanic Konan Niederhauser as the starting five for the matchup against Indiana.

Konan Niederhauser won the tip and Baldwin missed a layup before Konan Niederhauser slammed a dunk home for the first points of the game. Oumar Ballo was fouled by Dunn and could only make one foul shot before Konan Niederhauser added another layup to make it 4-1 early.

Dilione hit a three on the next trip down the floor to extend the early lead to six before Luke Goode answered with a three a few possessions later. Konan Niederhauser continued to dominate early and made another basket in the paint on the next possession as the teams started to trade buckets.

Trey Galloway converted a layup off a turnover to tie the game at 10-10 and then dunked on the next trip down the floor to give the Hoosiers their first lead of the night. Kern tied the game with a layup before Indiana went on a 5-0 run to go up 17-12. Penn State responded with a 10-0 run that was capped off with a layup from Hicks before Kanaan Carlysle ended the run with a layup and a subsequent three that tied the game at 22-22.

Baldwin hit a three that put the Nittany Lions up 27-24 before Kern added a fastbreak layup to increase the lead to five. Ballo and Mackenzie Mgbako tied the game back up at 29-29. Baldwin was fouled by Ballop but could only make one free throw as the Nittany Lions retook the lead.

Ballo put the Hoosiers back up on the next possession but Dilione and Kern hit back-to-back twos that made it 34-31. After a two from Mgbako, Baldwin hit his third three of the half to make it 37-33.

Ballo hit from the paint and Kern answered before Ballo put back a rebound at the buzzer that sent the game to halftime with the Nittany Lions leading 39-37.

The teams opened up the second half with four combined misses between the two before Bunn buried a jumper for the first points of the second half. Galloway answered with a three to bring the score to 41-40 with just over two minutes gone in the second half. Ballo fouled Konan Niederhauser after a miss from Indiana and he hit both free throws to put Penn State back up by three.

After trading buckets, Konan Niederhauser was fouled by Goode and hit both free throws to make the score 47-42. Ballo was fouled and made the bucket before converting the and-one to cut the Penn State lead to two at 49-47. Dunn answered with a layup at the other end before Myles Rice hit a three to make it a one-point game.

Penn State couldn’t convert and Rice got free under the basket to give Indiana the lead at 52-51. A Baldwin turnover didn’t yield any points for the Hoosiers and Dunn was fouled and made both shots to put the Nittany Lions back on top. Konan Niederhauser fouled Ballo, but he could only make one shot and tied the game at 53-53.

Dunn was fouled beneath the basket which led to the under-12 media timeout. Dunn made both shots on the other side of the timeout and Penn State regained the lead. Mgbako tied the game at 55-55 but Baldwin hit his fourth three of the night on the next possession. Galloway tied the game with a three of his own as they continued to go back and forth.

Konan Niederhauser put Penn State back in front with a layup and Baldwin was fouled on a three and made every free throw to push the lead to 63-58. Ballo was fouled, made the bucket again, and converted the and-one to get Indiana back to within two. It didn’t last long as Hicks threw down a dunk at the other end that pushed the score to 67-64.

Goode made two free throws and Ballo tied the game at 67-67 after a Penn State miss. The Nittany Lions converted on their next trip down the floor but Galloway hit a second-chance three to give Indiana the 70-69 lead. He followed it up with another three and Penn State trailed by four with a little over five minutes to go in the game.

Konan Niederhauser was called for a foul trying to grab an offensive board and Anthony Leal hit both free throws to push the Indiana lead to 75-69. Dilione stopped the bleeding with a three before a Hoosier turnover and a travel on Hicks brought the final media timeout of the game.

Konan Niederhauser went high into the air to try and bring down an alley-oop but was fouled on the delivery. Indiana called timeout before the free throws, and Konan Niederhauser went one-of-two from the line to make it 75-53 in favor of the Hoosiers.

Rice hit a three and followed it up with a two to extend Indiana’s lead to seven all by himself and forced a timeout from Rhoades. Hicks hit a three out of the timeout and cut the Indiana lead to 80-76.

Empty possessions from both sides drained the clock to under a minute with Penn State still trailing by four. Dunn fouled out and sent Indiana to the line with 55 seconds to play. Rice only hit one free throw and Indiana called timeout.

Baldwin was fouled with 40 seconds left and hit both free throws as the Nittany Lions got back to within three at 81-78. He followed the free throws with a foul with 31 seconds remaining. Rice missed both as Penn State took possession with 30 seconds left.

Hicks missed a three and Penn State fouled with 11 seconds left, Goode made both and effectively ended the game. The buzzer sounded as Penn State fell 83-78

Takeaways

• Ace Baldwin was a menace from three and was once again a large part of the Nittany Lions offense. The guard finished with 22 points and was 3-3 from beyond the arc in the first half.
• Yanic Konan Niederhauser had a tough task going up against Oumar Ballo, but the Nittany Lion was able to amass 16 points in the loss.
• Ballo was nearly unstoppable for the Hoosiers Wednesday night. The Nittany Lion defense struggled to contain him in the paint, and he ended with a team-best 20 points while also leading the team with 12 rebounds.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will return home to take on No. 16 Maryland at noon on Saturday, March 1.