Hoosiers Fall Short Again in Big Ten Tournament With Loss to Penn State
CHICAGO — Indiana's Big Ten Tournament experience ended on Saturday just the way all the rest of them have — with a loss. The Hoosiers lost to Penn State 77-73 in the second semifinal in a game that wasn't really that close.
The Hoosiers are 22-11 now and secure in knowing that they will be playing in next week's NCAA Tournament, but this is certainly not the ending they wanted in Chicago. Indiana coach Mike Woodson wanted ''a title for the seniors,'' but it didn't happen, thanks to issues that have bothered this team too often at times this season.
The Hoosiers struggled from three-point range again, going just 2-for-14 from deep, with both makes coming from reserve guard Tamar Bates. Indiana's starters were a combined 0-for-9 from three, with Jalen Hood-Schifino, Miller Kopp and Trey Galloway all missing three long balls.
They also failed miserably in protecting the glass. Penn State had eight second-half offensive rebounds to keep possessions alive, and it made a huge difference because every time Indiana got close, Penn State pulled away again with bonus possessions.
Worst off, the Hoosiers didn't bring it hard for 40 minutes. That showed on the glass, but also defensively. They made it too easy for Penn State to score, with guard Jalen Pickett scoring 28 points mostly in single coverage.
It was not the way Indiana senior Trayce Jackson-Davis wanted to go out. He scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds and seven assists, and passed Don Schlundt for No. 3 in Indiana's all-time scoring list, but it was nowhere near enough without help.
"I think we played lackadaisical in stretches throughout the game,'' Jackson-Davis said. "We would make pushes, but then we would kind of relax, and they would start to step on us a little bit. But we need that intensity throughout the whole game, and we can't played scared. I thought overall we played kind of tentative. We weren't shooting the ball when we should have been. We've just got to fix those things, and basically that's it.
"Obviously you're upset, but at the same time, we still got the NCAA Tournament. We're not sweating like we were prior years. We know that we're in. We're going to go back, fix what we did wrong in this game, and then focus on whoever we got to play after Selection Sunday.''
Indiana, without question, is in much better condition this year. They should be a No. 4 or No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and won't play until Thursday or Friday. Last year, after winning two games in the Big Ten Tournament to get into the NCAAs, they had to play in Dayton on a Tuesday and were whipped after they won and then had to travel to Portland.
This year can be more normal, with several days of rest now.
But they would have preferred to play another day. For 25 years, the Hoosiers have underachieved in the Big Ten Tournament. They've never won the thing, and only played in the finals once, losing to Iowa in 2001.
A finals rematch with No. 1 seed Purdue was the goal, but Penn State simply played better.
"You've got to give them credit. They played their asses off tonight, Penn State did,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "When they started to make shots, we kind of backed off. It put so much pressure on us to make shots, which we had some good looks, but our perimeter play went 14-for-39, and that's not that good.
"When we're winning, our perimeter play is making shots and our bigs are making plays inside. It's kind of lopsided a little bit today.''
Penn State beat Indiana for the second time this season, and that first loss might have had something to do with the second. The Nittany Lions hit 18 three-pointers in the 85-66 win in State College in January. Indiana didn't want to leave three-point shooters on Saturday, and that worked to a point. Penn State was just 8-for-23 from three-point range.
But Pickett, a first-team All-Big Ten player, took advantage. He got single coverage almost all of the game, and would simply back down Indiana defenders — usually Miller Kopp — and get easy looks. He scored 28 points on 9-of-19 shooting, and got to the free throw line often, too. He made 9-of-10 free throws.
Yeah, they were kind of staying home on shooters,'' Pickett said with a smile when asked why he got so many good looks all night. "We played them earlier this year and we shot bombs away from three.
"So we kind of figured they were going to stay home, so I was really able to get into the gaps and get deep to where I wanted to to be able to just rise up and shoot it.''
Indiana got off to a good start, jumping out to a 12-6 lead, but then Penn State went on a 13-0 run that included three three-pointers. They built the first-half lead to 12, and led by eight at halftime, 34-26. Indiana was 0-for-6 from three in the half.
The Hoosiers made a nice rally to tie the game at 47-47 with 10:23 to go, but then Penn State took off again. They outscored Indiana 23-8 and led by 15 at 70-55 with 2:14 left.
Indiana started to press, and it worked. The Hoosiers forced three turnovers and Tamar Bates hit a three with 59 seconds to go to cut the lead to seven. Two more turnovers led to baskets by Hood-Schifino and Galloway and suddenly the Hoosiers were within one at 74-73 with 33 seconds remaining. Seth Lundy was fouled with 17 seconds to go and made both, and on the other end, Hood-Schifino had a good look at a three-pointer but it didn't go it. He's made those lately. Penn State closed it out from there.
"We tried to get a high ball screen, and I thought he had a good look,'' Woodson said of Hood-Schifino's last there. "Hell, he hit the same shot the other night against Maryland. He had a good look at it. He just didn't make it.''
Indiana will find out its NCAA Tournament destination on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET during CBS's Selection Sunday show. No Indiana team has made it to the second weekend since 2016, and no Indiana team has won a game in the second week since 2002.
This Indiana team is still hoping to make some noise in the postseason, but they're going to have to be at their best for 40 minutes, not just in fits and spurts.
"If we could get a 40-minute ballgame each and every time you step out, it makes life a lot easier for you as a coach and as players playing,'' Woodson said. "I thought we stepped on the floor with great intentions early, and then we had some miscues. I just thought when they were making threes early, we were a step behind in terms of closing guys out and making them put the ball down on the floor. We did a better job the second half in that regard, but it was an uphill climb once we dug a hole early.
"I like the way we fought back, but you don't get a whole lot for second place. We'll go back and watch this tape, break it down, and try to learn from it, like Trayce said. We'll have a few days to practice to get ready for tournament play. Somehow I've got to get them to understand that you're going to have to commit for 40 minutes because it can be one minute, two seconds, a second that can cost you a tournament victory. The fact that they tasted a little bit last season, I think they know what's in front of us, but we still got a long way to go.''
Penn State, who entered as the No. 10 seed and has upset Illinois, Northwestern and Indiana, will play Purdue for the league title on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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- WATCH JACKSON-DAVIS' PUT-BACK DUNK: Trayce Jackson-Davis got going early with two dunks in the first four minutes of the Big Ten Tournament semifinals against Penn State. CLICK HERE
- LIVE BLOG: Indiana looks to advance to just its second-ever Big Ten Tournament title game when they take on Penn State on Saturday in Chicago. Welcome to our live blog, straight from press row at the United Center. We'll keep you updated on all the news and views, plus opinion and highlights. CLICK HERE
- HOW TO WATCH IU-PENN STATE: The Indiana Hoosiers advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, where they'll play Penn State on Saturday at the United Center in Chicago, Ill. Here's how to watch, with game time and TV information, the latest on the point spread, the coaching matchup, series history, stats, rankings and more. CLICK HERE
