Penn State has played at The Palestra - known widely as The Cathedral of College Basketball - fives times in Big Ten play. The first three times, The Nittany Lions (12-3, 1-2) had won the first two, against Michigan State in 2017 and Iowa in 2020, before falling to No. 1 Purdue in 2023 and taking down Michigan in 2024. The game is widely considered a homecoming for the program’s Philadelphia-area natives, this year Zach Hicks (Camden, NJ) and Kachi Nzeh (Upper Darby, PA).
Indiana came into Philadelphia and ruined the fun, however, taking the Sunday afternoon matchup 77-71.
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The Hoosiers (12-3, 3-1) started the first half slow on the offensive end, but used an early array of three-point shooting in the second half to sprint forward with a double-digit lead, before Penn State’s comeback attempt fell just short in the final minutes.
Nick Kern led the Nittany Lions with a season-high 21 points, getting to the rim with the ball in his hands and from backdoor cuts behind Indiana’s defense.
Penn State dominated the paint, getting nearly all of its offense at the rim. It outscored Indiana 52-28 in the paint.
The Hoosiers were led by star center Oumar Ballo, who had his second straight double-double with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Mackenzie Mgbako also led the way with 20 points, including a quick explosion to start the second half.
The game started fast with each team hitting five of their first seven shots, but as the half went on neither team could gain a lot of offensive momentum, as they traded buckets and scoring droughts before going into halftime tied 29-29.
All but three of the Nittany Lions’ first-half points came in the paint, with the other three points coming at the free throw line. They did not make a field goal outside of the paint in the first half and went 0-for-8 from three. They also had multiple scoring droughts of at least three minutes.
Indiana was marginally better from the perimeter, shooting 2-for-11 from beyond the arc but took advantage of having Ballo, who had multiple offensive rebounds and other tap-outs to give the Hoosiers extra possessions.
Ballo led all scorers in the first half with 14 points and nine rebounds in the first half.
The Hoosiers blitzed Penn State to start the second half, led by New Jersey native Mackenzie Mgbako. He led a personal 8-0 run to start the half prompting a timeout from head coach Mike Rhoades, but the rest of Indiana’s shooters did not slow down. The Hoosiers made five of their first seven three-pointers to start the half, giving them room to pull away as the Nittany Lions simply could not match the efficiency on the other end.
Penn State weathered the storm, however, and continued to fight back by getting to the rim. The Nittany Lions got their first two shots from the perimeter to fall on back-to-back possessions by Kern and Freddie Dilione V, part of a comeback effort that saw Penn State nearly erase a Hoosier lead that was as large as 16 points midway through the second half. Before those threes, all of the Nittany Lions’ points had come from the paint or the free throw line.
PLAY OF THE GAME….
Nick Kern takes the dish from Ace Baldwin Jr. and slams it home over the defense.
NEXT UP…..
Penn State goes on the road to face No. 22 Illinois in Champaign on Wednesday night. The game will tip off at 9pm EST.
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