Indiana recorded its first Big Ten win on Wednesday night with an 87-85 overtime win over Penn State at Assembly Hall. The victory improved the Hoosiers to 6-4 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten game.
Here are five lessons from the victory over Lions of Nittany:
• With veterans leading, Indiana found a way to end a tough game: There were many holes in Indiana’s performance on Wednesday night, but after missed opportunities against Florida State, Northwestern and Illinois in the past few weeks, the Hoosiers finally closed a game.
In each of these three upcoming defeats, Indiana had a late advantage only to see her escape in defeat. On Wednesday, it seemed that the Hoosiers could again suffer a similar fate. Indiana led 12 with 9:58 to play in the second half, but Penn State got his first advantage in a Sam Sessoms shot with 28 seconds to play.
Indiana responded with a split of two free throws by Trayce Jackson-Davis and then Rob Phinisee arguably made the two most important plays in the game. Phinisee blocked a shot from Sessoms on the buzzer in the regulation that sent the game into overtime and then hit a difficult jump with 14.3 seconds to play to take IU to his first conference win.
Archie Miller has not shied away from continuing to put expectations on Phinisee and Al Durham Jr., despite his poor game over the past few weeks. On Wednesday, the two players showed offensive performances that should be expected of the veterans.
“We found a way. Being able to get this one tonight is a big problem, ”said Miller. “I think more than anything it is trusting some guys. As we move forward, hopefully, this will increase our juice and increase our energy. “
• Defense regressing in the Big Ten game: In seven games away from the conference, Indiana did not allow an opponent to score more than one point for possession.
After Penn State’s 1.14 points per trip on Wednesday, Indiana earned more than one point for possession in each of the conference’s three games.
The Lions of Nittany managed to spread the ground effectively and produce several slightly contested 3-point attempts. Penn State made 12 of his 28 attempts away, which was a season record for an opponent in 10 games. It was a defensive performance that Miller knows Indiana cannot repeat while the league game continues.
“We’re going to have to work hard,” explained Miller. “We are going to be happy with some things offensively (in the movie) because I think some guys made great plays, but I think defensively we are going to be a little disappointed. We won’t be able to score 87 points in every game, I think we know that. We gave up 85 (points) tonight, this is probably the worst. “
• Hoosiers show offensive balance: One or two players carrying the load offensively has been a topic recently for Indiana, but Wednesday’s effort had contributions from almost everyone in the rotation.
Phinisee’s 11 points marked his first double-digit score since the Providence game on November 30. Durham’s 18 points were one below his record for the 19 season, which was also against Providence. Trey Galloway, who made his second consecutive match, scored 10 points and conceded five assists.
These contributions somewhat eased the pressure from Trayce Jackson-Davis, who scored double digits for the 10th straight game, and Armaan Franklin, who scored double digits for the fifth straight game.
Indiana would probably like to give Jackson-Davis more than 13 shots, but the sophomore striker made the most of the opportunities he received. Jackson-Davis scored 21 points, the best mark in the game, 8 out of 13 on the field and 5 out of 6 on the free throw line.
• At full strength, Thompson proving he can be defensively disturbing in painting: In 10 games, it is clear that Race Thompson made big athletic gains in this off-season.
Thompson is more explosive with his first and second jump, he is ending with dunks on the edge instead of layups and he is proving to be a capable kick blocker.
As a sophomore redshirt, Thompson blocked 19 shots in 398 minutes. This season, in 289 minutes, Thompson has 17 blocks, with four of them arriving in Wednesday’s win over Penn State. In Big Ten games, Thompson’s block percentage (6.7) is the ninth best in the conference.
After Wednesday’s news that Joey Brunk has undergone back surgery and is out indefinitely, Indiana will continue to trust Thompson for a few minutes. So far, he looks more than ready for the challenge.
• Recovery remains a major concern: Indiana was one of the best Big Ten teams in rebounds last season, taking fourth place in the conference in percentage of offensive rebounds and third in percentage of defensive rebounds.
This season, the Hoosiers have a lot of work to do to be considered a means of the rebound team. In three league games, IU is 11th in the conference in percentage of offensive rebounds and 13th in percentage of defensive rebounds.
Miller has been insisting on the importance of recovery for more than a month, but not much progress is being made.
“Recovery is a big struggle for us,” said Miller. “I think Penn State, when entering the game, had a rebound margin in its first two games of the conference of less than six or eight per game. It wasn’t like they were a powerful recovery team. “
Filed for: Aljami Durham, Archie Miller, Armaan Franklin, Penn State Nittany Lions, Race Thompson, Robert Phinisee, Trayce Jackson-Davis