1/2/2022 basketball Edit

Indiana struggles offensively, falls on the road to Penn State 61-58

Trevor Gersmehl • TheHoosier

Staff Writer

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Indiana remains winless on the road after falling 61-58 to a now 6-5 Penn State team. Eight of the previous 11 matchups between these two clubs had been decided by five points or fewer, and another game was added to that statistic.

The first half was a gritty one filled with tough defense and hustle plays. Both teams made it very hard for one another to generate easy looks. The Hoosiers forced eight turnovers but were only able to hit 36.7 percent of their shots on the other end.

Collectively, Indiana played with poor effort in the first half. Penn State was giddy for some action after a COVID pause and outworked them in the first half. Race Thompson kept his team in the game by pulling in misses and scoring on putbacks.

Penn State drew up a grew defensive strategy which made it difficult for Trayce Jackson-Davis to get touches. The preseason All-American had just five shot attempts in the first half. The Nittany Lions deserve credit for their play, but the situation for Indiana was exacerbated by apparent sluggishness.

The Hoosiers emphasized feeding Jackson-Davis more shots in the second half, and the offense surged as a result. Jackson-Davis immediately spurred an 8-2 run with five of his own points and an assist.

Penn State would respond minutes later with a 13-2 run of their own and controlled the lead from that point forward. However, the Hoosiers capitalized off an injury to Penn State center John Harrar with a 9-0 run.

Harrar would return to the game minutes later, but a lack of frontcourt depth allowed Indiana to claw back in the game. The score remained neck-and-neck for the remainder of the second half.

Everything boiled down to the final possession, where the Hoosiers had 20 seconds to send the game into overtime down by three points. They got off two tough looks -- one from Rob Phinisee and the other from Jackson-Davis, but neither dropped and Penn State walked off victorious.

The three-point and rebounding battle was the deciding factor in Penn State's victory. They hit 11 of their 22 threes compared to Indiana's four of 17. Both teams struggled to score for much of the game, but when they did score, Penn State hit threes where Indiana hit twos.

Indiana was also dramatically out-rebounded by Penn State. The Nittany Lions had 11 offensive rebounds and pulled in 39 total boards over the Hoosiers' 29.

Sam Sessoms caught fire and tallied 10 points in the second half, giving life to a Penn State offense that had struggled all game. Sessoms fueled his team's 13-2 run which gave them a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the contest.

Jalen Pickett was also a major factor in this game, leading the team with 15 points on some very difficult looks. Myles Dread also knocked in four of five threes for 12 total points.

Jackson-Davis and Thompson carried the Hoosiers in this game and received very little help from the supporting cast. Jackson-Davis would finish with 20 points, five rebounds, and three assists, while Thompson scored nine points and grabbed 10 boards.

Rob Phinisee added nine points.

The positives to take away from this game are hard to find. Indiana was out-hustled and out-executed in nearly every way this game and was lucky to have a shot to win in the end.

The good news is teams often play poorly after the Christmas break, and Indiana has another chance to redeem themselves against a No. 13 Ohio State team in Assembly Hall on Thursday.