Indiana Basketball holds on to beat Penn State for critical Big Ten road win

Indiana basketball survived a close one on the road beating Penn State 77-71 for their first Big Ten road win.

The win gives the Hoosiers a massive quad 1 victory despite forward Malik Reneau’s absence due to a knee injury.

With Reneau out, Oumar Ballo stepped up once again. Penn State struggled to contain the Indiana big man who finished with a game-high 25 points, 13 rebounds, and three assists. Four of Ballo’s rebounds were on the offensive end for the Hoosiers. He also had two blocks including a critical one late in the game.

Indiana basketball won the rebounding battle 39-33 and had 13 offensive rebounds as a team. They turned the offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points.

Luke Goode had a huge day on the glass for Indiana basketball as he corralled Five offensive rebounds and seven total rebounds. Goode also scored 12 points while shooting 3-5 from three.

Mackenzie Mgbako also had a big day for the Hoosiers. He scored 20 points with four rebounds while shooting 7-13 from the field and 4-8 from three.

Mgbako scored eight straight points to open the second half to help Indiana take an eight-point lead. The Hoosiers did not trail again in the game.

As a team Indiana basketball shot 9-23 (39%) from three in the win, making six more threes than Penn State who shot 3-21 (14%) from distance.

Trey Galloway had another all-around performance for the Hoosiers. He finished the game with eight points and six assists while shooting 3-6 from the field.

Myles Rice played a conductor role for Indiana basketball. While he didn’t shoot well, he controlled the pace of the game and played great defense in the win. He finished with nine points, four assists, and two steals while shooting 2-9 from the field.

Indiana did a good job on Penn State star guard Ace Baldwin Jr. who finished with 12 points on 5-15 shooting. He also had a game-high seven assists for the Nittany Lions.

Nick Kern lead Penn State with 21 points on 8-13 from the field.
Indiana’s massive start to the second half helped them control the game as they never trailed in the half. Despite leading by as much as 16, Penn State was able to rally back and get within a single possession.

Ultimately the Hoosiers held on and earned a massive win in a tough environment to improve to 12-3 on the season and 3-1 in the Big Ten.

Indiana basketball will be back in action on Wednesday night when they host USC at Assembly Hall.

SEE ALSO: Key takeaways from the Indiana basketball 77-71 win over Penn State

Make sure to follow Hoosier Illustrated, part of the Full Ride Network,on Twitter @Indiana_FRN, Facebook and YouTube to stay up to date on all of the news, updates and coverage of Indiana University athletics. You can also listen to the Talking’ Bout the Hoosiers podcast on Spotify.

Looking for a place to get more Indiana content? Hoosier Illustrated has partnered with Tom Brady’s company ‘Autograph’ to streamline our coverage, so you can continue to do what you do best – follow IU sports. Use the CODE: Indianafr to get started today. For more info, you can start here.