Penn State notches second straight road win with upset at Indiana
Penn State went to Assembly Hall on Saturday afternoon hoping to build off the first road win of the Mike Rhoades era earlier this week against Rutgers. The Nittany Lions fell behind Indiana by as many as 11 in the first half, but exploded for 48 points in the second to cruise to an oddly comfortable 85-71 win over the Hoosiers. Penn State improved to 11-11 on the season and is now 5-6 in Big Ten play.
“Our gameplan wasn’t that complicated,” Rhoades said after the win. “It had to be simple so we could play really hard and play with a clear mind. I thought we did that. I thought we shared the ball on offense and really helped each other on defense. We did a good enough job rebounding to get our offense going a little bit.
“So just a great team effort, really proud of our guys.”
Playing without standout guard Kanye Clary, the Nittany Lions were able to spread the ball and the scoring around throughout the contest. Five Penn State players, led by Ace Baldwin’s 22 points, reached double-digits on the day.
The Nittany Lions were carried by their best shooting day of the season. Penn State hit 31-of-54 shots from the field for a season-high 57.4 percent and canned 12-of-22 from long range. Baldwin shot 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and contributed a team-high eight assists in the win.
“He didn’t let anything bother him,” Rhoades said of Baldwin. “He didn’t get frustrated, he had a clear mind the whole time. When you’re a vet and you’ve played a lot of games and you have a clear mind, you usually play well. Or you’re in the game to figure it out. He did that [today],”
Penn State’s supporting cast contributed heavily on Saturday
Junior Zach Hicks netted a season-best 19 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point territory. Center Qudus Wahab added 14 points and seven rebounds, while Jameel Brown and D’Marco Dunn reached double figures in scoring with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
Penn State trailed 41-37 at the break, as the Hoosiers came out hot at home. Indiana rode sophomore center Kel’el Ware throughout the first 20 minutes. Ware scored 17 points on 6-of-6 shooting in the first half as the Hoosiers scored 26 of their 41 points in the paint. Indiana was sloppy with the basketball and the Penn State defense forced 13 turnovers on the day.
The Hoosiers turned it over twice in the first two minutes of the second half and Penn State was able to grab the lead for good on a three-pointer from Baldwin with 16:50 to play. The basket, which put the Nittany Lions up 45-43, came after an Indiana turnover. Unlike prior experiences this year, Penn State did not give back the lead.
“We’ve been very inconsistent throughout this year,” said Rhoades. “We’ve had leads and given them up, we’ve been down a lot and have come back. We got down on the road at Purdue and Ohio State bad and we could never get back connected to the game. We’ve been through a lot of stuff this year. You’re always your best teacher.
“I think we settled down a little bit. After we got down, I think we just got some better shots and made some shots. If we don’t turn that ball over and keep it moving, we do get some good shots. A guy like Ace can get downhill and create for himself and others. We got going with that, and of course we made threes today.”
The win was the Nittany Lions’ first at Assembly Hall since 2014. Penn State will return home on Thursday to host Iowa at the Bryce Jordan Center. The game will air live on the Big Ten Network at 7 p.m. on Feb. 8.
