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

Indiana basketball earned a hard-fought road win against Penn State on Sunday afternoon, taking down the Nittany Lions 77-71.

Indiana moves to 12-3 overall and 3-1 in Big Ten play.

Here ae the key takeaways from IU’s win over Penn State.

Oumar Ballo has turned a corner: The dominant performances from Oumar Ballo have been few and far between this year, but Sunday was back-to-back games where he was phenomenal on both ends of the floor. He started hot and set the tone on both ends with his energy and effort — two things that haven’t always been at a high level this year. Ballo played with tons of confidence and enthusiasm and was able to get whatever he wanted, when he wanted. Whether it was off of pick and roll action, able to seal his defender in the post or finishing off of offensive rebounds, he did it all. Ballo finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. It’s the second straight game that Ballo dominated the paint, on the heels of his performance against Rutgers. His importance is evident and this could be a major turning point for Ballo, and thus, Indiana basketball.

Mackenzie Mgbako’s shot making ability on display: Mackenzie Mgbako had struggled over the last month to find the offensive consistency that he played with during the first few games of the season. That wasn’t the case on Sunday. Mgbako had 20 points on 7-of-13 from the field and 4-of-8 from three. He came out of the half with his own 8-0 run in the first minute of the second half, en route to scoring 15 of his 20 after halftime. Mgbako started the season off hot, averaging 17.3 points and shooting 51.6 percent from three in the first seven games. Then, it was a clear slump for the sophomore, averaging 9.5 points and shooting just 30.4 percent form three in the next six games. It’s clear, when Mgbako is on and firing on all cylinders offensively, his shot making ability elevates Indiana’s potential by a large amount.

Indiana’s second half performance: After just 29 points in the first half and going 1-of-7 with four turnovers in the final 5:21, IU came out firing in every aspect in the second half. Indiana quickly turned in a 10-0 run out of the gates and went on to score 48 after halftime. 10 minutes into the second half, Indiana was scoring 1.813 points per possession after .967 in the first half. Indiana did it in the paint, at the free throw line and from three – connecting on nine 3s. While there were still struggles closing out the game, a theme with this team, Indiana basketball still found a way to pull it out.

1-big on the floor: The talk all season has revolved around Indiana’s ability or inability to play with two bigs on the floor — Oumar Ballo and Malik Reneau. Well, Sunday provided the first real look from start to finish what IU could be with truly just one big on the floor. And, it passed the test. The spacing and versatility offensively was evident and gave Ballo so much space to work in an open paint. If he was doubled, the extra shooter on the perimeter opened up the floor. While IU was up and down from three, it all evened out, finishing 9-of-23 from three. Myles Rice and Trey Galloway had more room to maneuver in the half court and took full advantage all game. It’s clear that the half court offense was running at a much better pace and that was evident with the 1.132 points per possession in the game. Now the question is; will Mike Woodson take Indiana basketball back to a 2-big lineup when Malik Reneau returns from his injury?

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