Know Your Opponent: Penn State

Indiana heads into its matchup with Penn State on Wednesday with an 0-2 Big Ten record. Looking to get back in the win column, Penn State comes in as another team with a winless conference record.

PSU’s head coach, Pat Chambers, was fired before the season began, leaving the keys to interim head coach Jim Ferry. Right now, he has the Nittany Lions at 3-3.

Penn State is led by Izaiah Brockington who is averaging 15.2 points per game. He is a bigger, slashing guard who makes most of his work in the paint and midrange. He is a a very good shot creator and is shooting 58.1 percent from the field over his last three games.

Myreon Jones is a very well-rounded guard who can get hot in a hurry. Most of his looks come from three-point range or as long twos. He is averaging 13.3 points per game.

Seth Lundy is a versatile forward who plays that stretch-4 position. He is shooting just 33 percent from deep, but is a very capable shot maker from the perimeter. At just 6-foot-6, he isn’t going to be a big physical body in the paint on either end of the floor. He is averaging 13.0 points per game.

Other names for Penn State to watch for are Sam Sessoms, Myles Dread and Jamari Wheeler. Sessoms has been a huge piece off of the bench in the backcourt, scoring in double figures each game (11.8 ppg). Dread is a spot up shooter who has seen 31 of his 43 field goal attempts come from three - shooting 41.2 percent on the season from deep. Finally, Wheeler is a hard nosed guard who won’t fill up the stat book in the scoring column, but averages 4.7 assists per game. His biggest asset, however, is defensively where he averages 1.7 steals per game.

Penn State Projected Starters:

PG - Jamari Wheeler (Sr; 6-1; 170)

Stats: 5.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.7 apg

SG - Myreon Jones (Jr; 6-3; 180)

Stats: 13.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.0 apg

SF - Izaiah Brockington (Jr; 6-4; 200)

Stats: 15.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 46.7% 3pt

PF - Seth Lundy (So; 6-6; 219)

Stats 13.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 33.3% 3pt

C - John Harrar (Sr; 6-9; 240)

Stats: 6.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg

Things To Watch For Indiana:

Indiana needs to bounce back and bounce back in a big way. It's now a two game losing streak and with how tough the Big Ten is, a win to end 2020 will be a much better taste in its mouth than a three-game losing streak.

Penn State leads the conference in steals per game (8.5) and with Indiana's inconsistencies in the backcourt, that is a stat to keep an eye on. Even if IU turns the ball over, are they dead ball turnovers where Indiana can go back and get its defense setup, or does it lead to transition opportunities for Penn State?

Penn State is giving up over 74 points per game and allowing opponents to shoot 47 percent from the field. IU continues to have its major scoring droughts in games, but can it click against a less than stellar defensive team in PSU?