Quick thoughts on a 77-71 win against Penn State at the Palestra:

How it happened

It was a sharp start on both ends for Indiana on Sunday afternoon at the Palestra. The Hoosiers took care of the ball, hit the offensive boards and hit a couple of early perimeter shots to build an early 17-14 advantage. But as IU went to its bench, the offense waned, the turnovers increased and the Hoosiers managed just 12 points over the final 12:14 of the half. Fortunately, Penn State struggled, too. The Nittany Lions didn’t make a 3-pointer in the first half, shot just three free throws and didn’t make a field goal over the final 6:29 of the opening 20 minutes. With Malik Reneau unavailable due to injury, Oumar Ballo was the focal point of the Hosier offense and was sometimes unstoppable. Ballo had 14 points and nine rebounds in 16 first-half minutes.

Mackenzie Mgbako scored eight points in less than a minute to start the second half, forcing Penn State to take an early timeout with the Hoosiers leading 37-29. By the under-16 media timeout, Indiana’s lead was 44-33 after the Hoosiers made three 3-pointers before the timeout. After Penn State cut the lead to eight at 47-39, Indiana went on an 11-4 run to make it a 58-43 advantage with 11:34 remaining. The Hoosiers stretched the lead to 16 on a Trey Galloway 3-pointer with 10:20 left. But Penn State scored the next six points to pull within 10 at 61-51 at the 9:05 mark. Mgbako’s third 3-pointer of the second half stretched the lead to 11 with 7:39 remaining, but Oumar Ballo picked up his fourth foul on the next possession and had to go to the bench.

After Penn State cut the lead to four at 65-61 on a Nick Kern Jr. 3-pointer, Indiana brought Ballo back in and the big man converted a 3-point play to make it 68-61 with 5:25 remaining. By the final media timeout, Indiana’s lead was 69-63. Penn State had a chance to cut it to one possession with under 2:15 left, but Galloway got a key steal and took the team’s last timeout with the Hoosiers leading 73-68 with 2:04 to go. Out of the timeout, IU turned it over, Penn State hit a 3-pointer to make it 73-71 and Rice didn’t get the ball past halfcourt, giving Penn State the ball with 1:32 left. Zach Hicks missed a 3-pointer that would have given the Nittany Lions the lead and on the ensuing possession, Mgbako was fouled with 42.7 seconds left. Mgbako made both free throws to make it 75-71, Hicks missed a 3-pointer on Penn State’s next possession and Rice made two free throws to seal the win for Indiana.

Standout performers

Ballo led Indiana with 25 points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots in 32 minutes. Mgbako finished with 20 points in 31 minutes. Luke Goode made three 3-pointers and finished with 12 points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes. And Rice had nine points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals in 31 minutes.

Statistics that stand out

Indiana went 9-for-23 on 3s (39.1 percent) and 16-for-22 from the free throw line (72.7 percent). The Hoosiers turned it over just 14 times. Penn State opponents were averaging 17 per game entering the contest.

Final IU individual statistics

Final tempo-free statistics

Assembly Call postgame show

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

Filed to: Penn State Nittany Lions

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — There have been a lot of ups and downs during Mike Woodson’s three-plus years as head coach at Indiana, but one of the most disturbing trends is the Hoosiers’ inability to beat Penn State.

Woodson lost five of six games to the Nittany Lions before finally beating them 61-59 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis, Minn. last season. And this is an average Penn State side that’s only made one NCAA Tournament (2023) during that run. Still, they have guards who pressure and make threes, and Indiana has struggled with rosters like that.

Oddsmakers are expecting more of the same on Sunday when the two teams hook up at The Palestra in Philadelphia for a Penn State alternate home game. According to the FanDuel.com gambling website, the 12-2 Nittany Lions are 6.5-point favorites over the Hoosiers (11-3). The over/under is 158.5.

The game starts at Noon ET and is televised on Big Ten Network. (How to watch story link below.) It’s the fifth time Penn State has played a Big Ten home game during the Christmas break at The Palestra, which was built in 1927 and is one of the most iconic building in the college game.

Indiana has been an underdog twice this season, and both ended badly, getting blown out late by both Gonzaga and Nebraska.

Here’s what we know so far about how Indiana and Penn State have fared against the point spread this season.

UPDATE … Rutgers is 12-2 on the season, and 2-1 in Big Ten games. They resumed league play on Thursday night with an 84-80 win over Northwestern in State College, Pa.

Penn State is just 6-8 against the spread this season. They’ve had an easy schedule, only playing two Power 5 teams in the nonconference schedule. They beat a 6-8 Virginia Tech team, but lost to Clemson., both from the ACC. Here’s what Penn State has done straight up and against the spread this season:

The Phoenix Suns dropped their Saturday night contest to the Indiana Pacers in 126-108 fashion.

Dropping to 15-18 on the season, the Suns have now lost four in a row and seven of their last eight.

It was tough sledding for Phoenix while they missed some key pieces in the lineup – all of Royce O’Neale (ankle), Tyus Jones (illness), Oso Ighodaro (illness) and Jusuf Nurkic (suspension) were unavailable vs. Indiana.

Bradley Beal was questionable with a hip contusion but pushed through to play. He finished with eight points on 3-12 shooting.

Devin Booker (20) and Kevin Durant (25) led the way in scoring for Phoenix while no other Suns player scored more than 13.

Indiana led by as much as 20, though they took control in the second half after Phoenix played them close in the first two quarters.

The Suns got down to a 7-0 deficit very early in the first quarter before battling back to just a one-point deficit at the end of the first, trailing 30-29. Phoenix shot a tremendous 58% from the field, though five turnovers ultimately held them back.

The second quarter saw the Suns take their first lead of the evening, 42-40, and eventually evened the score at 56-56. Kevin Durant led all scorers at halftime with 14 while Indiana still played strong despite making just 6-22 attempts from deep.

Indiana saw their lead hit double digits halfway through the third quarter, which was carried into the final quarter with Phoenix trailing 96-84. The Suns – typically an awful team in the third quarter this season – allowed 40 points in the period.

Despite flirting with a comeback, the Suns ultimately ran out of gas and couldn’t escape their 10+ point deficit. Mike Budenholzer emptied the bench with 54 seconds remaining before the final buzzer sounded.

The Suns are on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday, Jan. 6.