Indiana Basketball survives close one against Penn State 83-78

Indiana basketball survived a close one on Wednesday night taking down Penn State 83-78 at Assembly Hall.

After a massive win over in-state rivals Purdue last weekend, the Hoosiers had a chance to help increase their NCAA Tournament chances and they battled to hold on against the Nittany Lions.

Indiana basketball was without junior forward Malik Reneau who was ruled out at the last minute due to an illness.

With Reneau out, Mike Woodson went back to Oumar Ballo as the starting big while also electing to start Mackenzie Mgbako over Myles Rice who started in the win against Purdue.

In his return to the starting lineup, Ballo filled the stat sheet for Indiana basketball. He finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, and two steals in the win.

As a team the Hoosiers did a solid job on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 30-23. They also had eight offensive boards while Penn State had just four.

After some turnover issues in the first half, Trey Galloway had a massive second half for Indiana basketball including a pair of threes to help Indiana take a four-point lead with 5:12 to go. Galloway scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half while also adding nine assists. He shot 6-11 from the field and 4-5 from three in the win.

Galloway helped lead a strong shooting performance as a team for the Hoosiers. Indiana shot 29-51 (56.9%) from the field and 10-15 (66.7%) from beyond the arc in the win.

The one place the Hoosiers struggled offensively was at the free-throw line. They shot just XX-XX from the free throw line as Luke Goode was the only player to convert all of his attempts from the line.

Indiana basketball passed the ball well in this one, assisting on 24 of their 29 made field goals.

Other than some struggles from the free throw line, Mackenzie Mgbako had a solid shooting performance for Indiana basketball. Mgbako finished with 13 points on 6-11 from the field.

Luke Goode also added 10 points while making 2-3 three-point attempts for the Hoosiers. Anthony Leal also contributed six points, four rebounds, and three assists in the win.

Indiana also got a solid contribution from Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle off the bench. Myles Rice scored 13 points while Carlyle added five points. Their contribution was good enough to outscore Penn State’s bench in this one.

While Indiana basketball shot the ball well as a team, they struggled to defend Penn State’s offense. The Nittany Lions shot 27-51 (52.9%) from the field and 7-18 (38.9%) from three in this one.

Ace Baldwin Jr. led the way for them scoring 22 points while also adding five assists.

In addition to Baldwin Jr., four other Nittany Lions scored in double-figures including Yanic Konan Niederhauser who finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.

With the win Indiana basketball improved to 17-11 on the season and 8-9 in Big Ten play.

They’ll return to action on Saturday for their first game of a West Coast trip against Washington, before facing Oregon the following Tuesday.

SEE ALSO: Matt Painter gave his honest assessment of the Indiana basketball job. Right or wrong, it shouldn’t change anything — Indiana fans hold their program in high regard

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.