Penn State men’s basketball (8-2, 0-1 Big Ten) was blown out by Indiana (8-2, 1-1 Big Ten) 113-72 in Assembly Hall on Tuesday night.

The game got ugly for Penn State, and it got ugly fast. Indiana jumped out of the gates by going 4-for-5 from three-point range in the first five minutes of the game. Lamar Wilkerson tormented the Nittany Lions all night long, breaking Indiana’s single-game three-point record. He dropped 44 points to hand Penn State its worst loss of the young season.

How It Happened

Mike Rhoades rolled with the starting lineup of Kayden Mingo, Dominick Stewart, Melih Tunca, Josh Reed, and Ivan Jurić. Stewart notched his fourth start of the season.

Indiana won the tip, but the Nittany Lions contested on their first defensive possession to force a Tucker DeVries miss from deep. Tunca grabbed the rebound and Mingo laid it in with an acrobatic finish.

Lamar Wilkerson hit back-to-back threes for the Hoosiers before Tunca pulled up with one of his own from the top of the key. Wilkerson banged another one from deep despite some more tight defense from the Nittany Lions. He got a steal on defense and kicked it out to Tayton Conerway, who punished Penn State from beyond the arc once more.

Freddie Dilione V lined one up from mid-range for his first points of the night. Penn State forced a turnover, and Dilione drew a foul with four seconds left on the shot clock, sending the game into the first media timeout. Indiana went 4-for-5 from downtown in the first 4:11 of the game.

Dilione missed a reverse layup after the timeout. Wilkerson didn’t connect on his ensuing trey, but Dilione turned the ball right back over. DeVries missed a wide-open layup before blocking Tibor Mirtič under the cup.

Mingo sped towards the cup and drew a foul. He drained both of his free throws as Penn State pulled within three. He hustled for a steal off the inbound, but the Nittany Lions couldn’t convert the opportunity into points.

Conerway cashed Indiana’s fifth triple of the night while Jurić lost Penn State’s fifth turnover. Conerway picked out Reed Bailey for two points in the paint. Mingo fought back with a tough and-one.

Stewart tried a deep three, but missed the mark by a wide margin. Wilkerson continued to pile it on with a layup before Penn State lost another possession.

Wilkerson scored four more points to cap off his 15-point heater to open the game as Indiana went on a 10-0 run over four minutes. It went from bad to worse out of a Penn State timeout as Mirtič committed an offensive foul, handing the ball back to the Hoosiers.

Wilkerson turned that into three more points for Indiana with a nice step back. He made a big run up to the cup and laid the ball in.

Freshman Mason Blackwood had a wide-open look from deep, but his shot rattled in and out. Mingo couldn’t close out on Nick Dorn in the corner as he extended Indiana’s run to 20-2 over 4:34. The Hoosiers led 37-14 with 6:58 remaining in the first half.

Sam Alexis led DeVries through a wide-open lane for an easy dunk. Conerway slipped past Reed and laid it in high. Reed unleashed a quick shot from deep, but couldn’t make it fall. DeVries missed one of his own before Conor Enright made a slick move around Saša Ciani to bank it in with one hand.

Reed picked up his second foul as Conerway snuck his way into the paint for another score. Indiana cleared a 30-point lead. Tunca converted on a quick drive towards the basket, going into a media timeout.

Tunca found Jurić inside for Penn State’s first assist of the night with just over three minutes left in the first half. Bailey put the exclamation point on the half with a hanging dunk. Eli Rice rattled a trey in off a quick release before DeVries tapped a step back into the basket.

Conerway tipped the ball out of Tunca’s hands and cleaned up on the other end. DeVries bounced a pass directly to Dilione, who converted an and-one to teeter Penn State’s deficit back under 30 points. Bailey responded with his own and-one off a Mirtič foul.

Jurić turned the ball over once more. Wilkerson had a chance to beat the buzzer with a jumper, but his wayward shot ended the half. Indiana led 58-26.

Conerway drew first blood before Wilkerson launched from deep for his fifth three-pointer of the game. Tunca drained two foul shots on the other end.

Wilkerson didn’t stop there. He drilled another trey to tie his single-game high with the Hoosiers. DeVries sailed a triple of his own into the basket as Indiana ballooned its lead to 40 with just over 16 minutes remaining in the contest.

Wilkerson drained back-to-back threes as he reached 32 points on the night.

Mingo’s floater bounced off the rim. Wilkerson spun around for his ninth three. Ciani missed two free throws before Wilkerson fed the rock to a wide-open Bailey in the paint for an easy dunk.

Mingo made a nice move for two points. Wilkerson got a wide-open look on the far side, but he kissed it off the back iron. He tried again, this time from deeper, but his shot flew off target. Dilione responded with his first three of the night as Indiana called a timeout.

DeVries hit a three on his way down to the ground for Indiana’s fourth triple of the night.

Enright fed the ball underneath to Wilkerson in the paint for an easy two points as Indiana reached 90. Mingo fought through contact and couldn’t knock his shot down. Dorn hit a solid reserve layup before Dilione converted a deep two to bring himself to 14 points.

Wilkerson and Mingo exchanged baskets before Wilkerson made his 10th three of the night, breaking Indiana’s single-game record and boosting Indiana to the century mark.

A Rice fadeaway bounced off the rim. Ciani snagged the board and cleaned up with a hook shot.

Indiana continued to pour it on as Dorn hit his second trey of the game. Blackwood scored his first points of the night and his second basket as a Nittany Lion. Indiana ushered in its bench as Justin Houser checked in for Penn State in the final three minutes.

Aleksa Ristic continued the Hoosiers’ stellar shooting from deep to maintain their 45-point lead. Blackwood pulled up from three, but it bounced off the back iron. He tipped a Houser miss into the basket to end the game.

Takeaways

• Lamar Wilkerson. The Indiana guard started off hot from deep, hitting three triples within the first five minutes of the game. He dominated Penn State the entire night and was keeping pace with Penn State’s entire lineup early in the second half. Wilkerson ended his night with 44 points on 10-for-15 shooting from downtown.
• Penn State’s inexperience was on full display against the Hoosiers. Mike Rhoades is leading a young team, and there will likely be more nights like this as the Nittany Lions go through growing pains. However, Penn State never stopped fighting and showed courage down the stretch.
• While Indiana went 17-for-31 from beyond the arc, Penn State had another abysmal outing from deep. The Nittany Lions only mustered 5-for-16. They need to work on getting those shots to go down if they want to have a chance for successful comeback bids down later in the season.
• Freddie Dilione V had a solid outing for the Nittany Lions despite the demoralizing loss. He finished with 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting, three rebounds, and one assist.

What’s Next?

Penn State returns home to take on No. 9 Michigan State at noon on Saturday, December 13, in the Bryce Jordan Center. Folks can follow along on the Big Ten Network.