UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Indiana basketball has endured a rough patch over the past month, losing four of its last six games to Arizona, Kansas, Iowa and Northwestern.
The Hoosiers were eliminated from the AP Top 25 poll for the first time all season, with defense and turnover identified as glaring problem areas. Indiana has a chance to respond to back-to-back Big Ten losses against Penn State on Wednesday, but they’ll have to do it on the road without seniors Xavier Johnson and Race Thompson.
“We have to keep working,” said Indiana’s coach Mike Woodson. “No one will feel sorry for the Indiana Hoosiers. And yes, we have some important guys who aren’t on the bench in uniform, but we have other guys in uniform who have to get up and play.”
- *** LIVE BLOG: And once the game starts, you can follow all the action on our live blog from HoosiersNow.com editor Tom Brew. To read this story CLICK HERE.
How to watch Indiana Hoosiers vs. Penn State Nittany Lions
- Who: Indiana Hoosiers (10-5, 1-3) vs. Penn State Nittany Lions (11-5, 2-3)
- What: Indiana’s third Big Ten away game (0-2 in first two)
- When: 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, January 11
- Where from: Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pa.
- TV: Big Ten Network
- Announcer: Brandon Gaudin (Play-by-Play), Stephen Bardo (Analyst)
- Live broadcast: fuboTV (start free trial)
- Radio: IU Radio Network (Bloomington: 105.1 WHCC-FM, Indianapolis: 107.5 WFNI-FM)
- radio announcer: Don Fischer (play-by-play), Errek Suhr (color), John Herrick (prelude, halftime, postlude)
- Point distribution: Will be updated when available.
- Associated Press poll: Indiana dropped out of the AP Top 25 for the first time all season after losses to Iowa and Northwestern. Penn State was unranked in 2022-23.
- KenPom Rankings: Indiana is No. 22 in the KenPom rankings as of Tuesday afternoon. The Hoosiers are No. 47 on adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 22 on adjusted offensive efficiency. Penn State ranks 54th overall, 85th in adjusted defense efficiency, and 38th in adjusted offensive efficiency.
- Season projections: As of Tuesday, Indiana has the sixth best odds of winning the Big Ten regular season title at plus-1400, behind Michigan State and Illinois at plus-1000, Rutgers at plus-800, Ohio State at plus-600, and Purdue at minus- 125 According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Indiana is plus-2000 to reach the Final Four and plus-7500 to win the National Championship.
- The last three games: Indiana lost 84-83 at home to Northwestern on Sunday, lost 91-89 in Iowa on Thursday and defeated Kennesaw State 69-55 on December 23. Penn State lost to Purdue 76-63 on Sunday, lost 79-69 in Michigan Wednesday and beat Iowa 83-79 on January 1st.
- Last season’s records: Indiana went 21-14 overall, 9-11 in Big Ten game, 14-4 at home, 3-8 on the road and 4-2 at neutral venues in 2021-22. The Hoosiers finished ninth in the Big Ten, defeated Wyoming in the NCAA Tournament First Four, and lost to Saint Mary’s in the Round of 64. 1-10 on the road and 3-2 at neutral locations in 2021-22. Penn State ranked 11th in the Big Ten and their season ended in a 69-69 loss to Purdue in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament.
- Series history: Indiana leads the all-time series 42-13 with a 7-3 advantage in the last 10 matchups.
- Last meeting: Indiana defeated Penn State on January 26, 2022 at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana, 74-57 behind 19 points and six assists from Xavier Johnson. Race Thompson scored 18 points, Trayce Jackson-Davis added 15, and the Hoosiers shot 10-on-13 from 3-point range. Penn State’s Jalen Pickett had 14 points and John Harrar contributed 13 points and nine rebounds. The Nittany Lions shot 33.3 percent as a team.
Leading scorers
- Indiana Hoosiers
- F Trayce Jackson-Davis: 17.7 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 3.3 apg, 2.8 bpg
- G Jalen Hood-Schifino: 13.4 ppg, 4.6 apg, 4.3 rpg, 47.7 3pt FG pct
- F Miller Kopp: 9.1 ppg, 44.1 3-point FG pct
- G Tamar Bates: 9.1 ppg, 41.1 3-point FG pct
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- G Jalen Pickett: 17.9 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 7.3 apg
- G Seth Lundy: 13.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 40.2 3pt FG pct
- G Andrew Funk: 11.6 ppg, 40.4 3-point FG pct
Get to know the trainers
- Micah Shrewsberry, Northwest: In his second season at Penn State, Shrewsberry is 25-22 overall and 9-16 in Big Ten play. Shrewsberry gained Big Ten experience as an assistant coach under Matt Painter at Purdue in 2011-2013 and 2019-21. Meanwhile, Shrewsberry was an assistant coach to Brad Stevens with the Boston Celtics from 2013-19. Shrewsberry attended Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, Indiana before playing at Hanover College. He was an assistant at Wabash College and DePauw University before landing his first head coaching job at Indiana University-South Bend in 2003-2005. Shrewsberry was Stevens’ assistant at Butler from 2008 to 2011 and helped the Bulldogs make two national championship appearances.
- Mike Woodson, Indiana: Woodson has NBA head coaching experience with the Atlanta Hawks from 2004 to 2010 and the New York Knicks from 2012 to 2014. Since 1996, Woodson has also been an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks and Los Angeles clippers Woodson played at Indiana University from 1976 to 1980 and was named the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player as a senior under coach Bob Knight. He was the 12th overall pick in the 1980 NBA Draft and played for various teams from 1980 to 1991, averaging 14 points in 786 games. In his second season at Indiana, Woodson holds a 31-19 record.
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Tamar Bates (53) of Indiana makes a three point during the first half of the Indiana vs. Northwestern basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday, January 8, 2023.
© Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times/USA TODAY NETWORK
Three things to keep in mind about Indiana vs. Penn State
1. Let it fly
The biggest question around Indiana preseason was 3-point shooting, and it was perhaps the biggest area of improvement in a sophomore year under coach Mike Woodson. Indiana ranks third in the Big Ten and 31st in the nation with 38.2 percent from 3-point range, led by Jalen Hood-Schifino (47.7), Miller Kopp (44.1), and Tamar Bates (41.1).
Wednesday’s opponent, Penn State, shoots more 3-pointers than anyone in the Big Ten. On 171 attempts, compared to Indiana’s 109, Penn State is second in the Big Ten and 29th in the country with 38.3 percent. Andrew Funk alone has shot more 3-pointers than Indiana (46 to 114, or 40.4 percent), followed by Myles Dread (43.8) and Seth Lundy (40.2). Expect a barrage of 3-pointers on Wednesday night.
2. Cast change
Mike Woodson turned to Jordan Geronimo to replace the injured Race Thompson (knee) against Northwestern on Sunday. Geronimo only played 10 minutes and went 0-2 with three fouls. He will have an opportunity to bounce back from that performance but he may have to do so from the bench. Woodson said Sunday he could “tinker” with the starting lineup, which could go in a number of directions.
6-foot-9 freshman Malik Reneau played his best game in a month, scoring eight points and three rebounds on 4-for-5 shooting in 24 minutes. Foul problems have been a big problem for Reneau this season – he’s had four against Northwestern – and that has to change with Thompson out. The other option could be a small-ball lineup, with junior guard Trey Galloway joining the starting five. 6-foot-10 Penn State freshman Kebba Njie is the only Nittany Lion over 6-foot-6 playing significant minutes, so the Hoosiers could opt for a smaller lineup.
3. Defense by Jalen Pickett
6-foot-4 Penn State senior point guard Jalen Pickett will do anything for the Nittany Lions. He has 26 points in each of his last three games and averages 7.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists. Pickett isn’t a great 3-point shooter (34.0 percent), but he doesn’t force bad shots and he’s been better lately, going 5-for-7 from 3 in his last three games. The Hoosiers struggled on Sunday , to contain northwest guard Boo Buie and it’s clear they miss Xavier Johnson’s ball defense.
- WOODSON RADIO SHOW: Here are Indiana basketball coach Mike Woodson’s most notable comments on his weekly radio show, Inside Indiana Basketball, with Don Fischer. CLICK HERE
- JACKSON-DAVIS MOVES UP THE GOALS LIST: Trayce Jackson-Davis was already number 15 on Indiana’s all-time scoring chart before deciding to come back for his senior year. Now he’s on his way up the goalscoring chart again in 2022/23 and we’ll update the goalscoring chart after every game. CLICK HERE
- BRACKETOLOGY: In the latest ESPN Bracketology by Joe Lunardi, Indiana basketball fell to No. 8 after losses to Iowa and Northwestern last week. The Big Ten and Big 12 conferences vie for the most teams in the NCAA tournament, each with nine this week . CLICK HERE
- INDIANA SCHEDULE: The Indiana Hoosiers basketball schedule for the 2022-2023 season is complete. Here’s the full schedule with dates, game times and TV info, as well as links to the stories on the games already played. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA DEPTH MUST INCREASE: Indiana’s point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week after totaling 54 points, 12 assists and six rebounds in losses to Iowa and Northwestern. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA FROM AP SURVEY: Indiana basketball is not included in the Associated Press’s top 25 poll Monday for the first time in the 2022-23 season. The Hoosiers suffered two ugly losses in Iowa and on their home court to Northwestern this week. Only two Big Ten teams made the rankings this week, No. 3 Purdue and No. 18 Wisconsin. Here’s the full AP Top 25 poll. CLICK HERE
