Hoosiers Fall to Nittany Lions

Wednesday, January 11

University Park, Pa.

7:00 PM

Indiana University

10-6,1-4Big Ten

Penn State

12-5,3-3Big Ten

Indiana

Penn St.

1/11/2023 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Truth hurts and it did Wednesday night. Truth in theory can set you free and, for these Indiana Hoosiers, we'll see.

IU's worst-ever loss to Penn State, coming by an 85-66 score, was a smack down in every way and coach Mike Woodson wasn't about to sugar coat it, not for his players, not for himself.

"Our guys are down, and they should be," he said. "They got smacked in the face.

"We're not competing at all. That's on me. I've got to get us competing harder and stronger."

Want more hard truth? A team that opened the season with Big Ten aspirations and that was ranked in the top 10 in late November is in three-straight defeat freefall.

"We've got to be mentally sharp and play hard," Woodson said. "When we get smacked around, we kind of shrink and go the other way. We can't do that."

Penn State unleashed program record-breaking three-point shooting (18-for-31) the Hoosiers didn't come close to stopping.

"We were awful in guarding," Woodson said. "We had a good game plan. On half of the threes, we were right there with a hand up and hoping they would miss instead of getting into the ball and making them put it down."

Or, as guard Trey Galloway put it, "We can't dare them to shoot it. We have to get up and contain."

Penn State's three-point shooting prowess surfaced early. It made nine three-pointers in the first half to build leads as large as 14.

The second half wasn't any better for Indiana. The Nittany Lions (12-5 overall, 3-3 in the Big Ten) hit nine more three-pointers to send the Hoosiers (10-6 overall, 1-4 in the Big Ten) to their sixth loss in their last nine games.

Penn State shot 54 percent from the field, 58 percent from three-point range.

How did that happen? For one thing, IU defended in ways that had nothing to do with the game plan.

"When you try to dig out of a hole, you do things," Woodson said. "A couple times we did things we never talked about doing. You shake your head and ask, why did you do that? Those are the things that beat you. Tonight we had no shot with all the threes we gave up."

Defense was supposed to be a Hoosier strength, but they've allowed at least 84 points in five of their last seven games.

"Momentum comes from stops," Galloway said. "We couldn't find enough stops. We were out of sorts on offense because they kept scoring and scoring.

"It all starts with our defense. We have to get better. We know we have to get better. If we want to win games in the Big Ten, we can't keep giving up 80 points. It comes down to practice and focus on the little things. We have to lock in and do the right things."

Senior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis led IU with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Jalen Hood-Schifino and Tamar Bates had 11 points each. Galloway had 10.

That wasn't nearly enough.

"We can play harder," Galloway said. "The coaches are preaching it. That's our identity and we're not doing that. It's all of us. We can all give more.

"We have to play every game like it's our last. Every game in the Big Ten will be challenging. We can't go into these games not ready for a war because they're all wars."

Penn State was led by Seth Lundy's 25 points and seven three-pointer. Andrew Funk had 23 points and seven three-pointers.

Early on, forward Jordan Geronimo took Woodson's play-harder talk to heart. In the first six minutes, he had three rebounds and an assist, and defended ferociously. He added a basket for a 10-10 tie after seven minutes.

Then it disappeared.

"I thought Gallo competed," Woodson said. "Geronimo was all over the place. Miller (Kopp) was all over the place. We have to get something from those guys."

Freshman forward Malik Reneau came in during the first half, first to give Jackson-Davis a rare breather, then to pair with Jackson-Davis to give the Hoosiers a big lineup that could have given them an advantage. But a pair of turnovers sent Reneau to the bench, and the Nittany Lions' three-point shooting made any IU lineup irrelevant.

"We have to play harder," Galloway said. "On defense, we're not getting stops. We have to focus on game plan and follow it. Do the right things in practice. Find our identity on the defensive end. Teams that win the big Ten play defense."

Penn State's three-point shooting barrage (9-for-16 beyond the arc) helped create leads of 21-15, 26-18 and 37-23. IU's eight turnovers kept it from pushing back.

Guard Tamar Bates hit the Hoosiers' only three-pointer of the half to make it 37-26 at halftime.

Slowing down Penn State's perimeter shooting and getting Jackson-Davis more involved offensively (he only had six points) were big IU second-half priorities.

For a few second-half-opening minutes, it worked. Jackson-Davis scored six points in an 8-0 Hoosier run as IU cut the lead to five.

Then Penn State hit three-straight three-pointers, all by Funk, to restore its double-digit lead.

The Hoosiers never recovered.

Next up -- Saturday's home game against Wisconsin.

"Being 1-4 in the Big Ten is not a good start," Galloway said, "but it's a long season. We have a lot more games to play. If we commit to it, we can get out of this hole and get right back into (the Big Ten race)."