How to Watch Indiana Basketball Against Penn State on Wednesday
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Indiana basketball has hit a rough patch over the last month, losing four of its last six games to Arizona, Kansas, Iowa and Northwestern.
The Hoosiers dropped out of the the AP top-25 poll for the first time all season, with defense and turnovers as glaring areas of concern. Indiana has a chance to respond to back-to-back Big Ten losses on Wednesday against Penn State, but they'll have to do it on the road without seniors Xavier Johnson and Race Thompson.
"We've got to keep working," Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "Nobody is going to feel sorry for the Indiana Hoosiers. And yes, we've got to key guys that are sitting on the bench not in uniform, but we've got other guys that are in uniform that's got to step up and play."
- *** LIVE BLOG: And once the game starts, follow all the action on our live blog from HoosiersNow.com publisher Tom Brew. To read that 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 road game (0-2 in first two)
- When: 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 11
- Where: Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pa.
- TV: Big Ten Network
- Announcers: Brandon Gaudin (play-by-play), Stephen Bardo (analyst)
- Live Stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)
- Radio: IU Radio Network (Bloomington: 105.1 WHCC-FM, Indianapolis: 107.5 WFNI-FM)
- Radio Announcers: Don Fischer (play-by-play), Errek Suhr (color), John Herrick (pregame, halftime, postgame)
- Point spread: Penn State is a 2.5-point favorite against Indiana, and the over/under is 142.5 points, according to the SI Sportsbook.
- 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 has not been ranked in 2022-23.
- KenPom rankings: Indiana is No. 22 overall in the KenPom rankings as of Tuesday afternoon. The Hoosiers are No. 47 in adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 22 in adjusted offensive efficiency. Penn State is ranked No. 54 overall, No. 85 in adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 38 in adjusted offensive efficiency.
- Season projections: As of Tuesday, Indiana is has the sixth-best odds to win 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. Indiana is plus-2000 to reach the Final Four and plus-7500 to win the National Championship, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
- Last three games: Indiana lost 84-83 at home to Northwestern on Sunday, lost 91-89 at Iowa on Thursday and defeated Kennesaw State 69-55 on Dec. 23. Penn State lost to Purdue 76-63 on Sunday, lost 79-69 at Michigan on Wednesday and beat Iowa 83-79 on Jan. 1.
- Last season's records: Indiana went 21-14 overall, 9-11 in Big Ten play, 14-4 at home, 3-8 on the road and 4-2 at neutral sites 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. Penn State went 14-17 overall, 7-13 in Big Ten play, 10-5 at home, 1-10 on the road and 3-2 at neutral sites in 2021-22. Penn State finished 11th in the Big Ten, and their season ended with 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 74-57 on Jan. 26, 2022 at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind. behind 19 points and six assists from Xavier Johnson. Race Thompson scored 18 points, Trayce Jackson-Davis added 15 and the Hoosiers shot 10-for-13 from 3-point range. Penn State's Jalen Pickett scored 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 3-point 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 3-point FG pct
- G Andrew Funk: 11.6 ppg, 40.4 3-point FG pct
Meet the coaches
- Micah Shrewsberry, Northwestern: In his second season at Penn State, Shrewsberry is 25-22 overall and 9-16 in Big Ten play. Shrewsberry has prior Big Ten experience as an assistant coach under Matt Painter at Purdue from 2011-13 and 2019-21. In between, Shrewsberry was an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics from 2013-19 under Brad Stevens. Shrewsberry attended Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, Ind. before playing at Hanover College. He was an assistant at Wabash College and DePauw University before earning his first head coaching job at Indiana University-South Bend from 2003-05. Shrewsberry was an assistant under Stevens at Butler from 2008-11, helping the Bulldogs make two national championship appearances.
- Mike Woodson, Indiana: Woodson has NBA head coaching experience with the Atlanta Hawks from 2004-10 and the New York Knicks from 2012-14. Dating back to 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 1976-80, 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 1980-91, averaging 14 points over 786 games. In his second season at Indiana, Woodson holds a 31-19 record.
Indiana's Tamar Bates (53) makes a three-pointer during the first half of the Indiana versus Northwestern men's basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023.
© Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK
Three things to watch in Indiana vs. Penn State
1. Let it fly
The biggest question surrounding Indiana before the season was 3-point shooting, and it's been perhaps the biggest area of improvement in year two under coach Mike Woodson. Indiana ranks third in the Big Ten and 31st in the nation at 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 at 38.3 percent and 29th in the country. Andrew Funk alone has shot more 3-pointers than Indiana (46-for-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. Lineup changes
Mike Woodson turned to Jordan Geronimo to replace the injured Race Thompson (knee) on Sunday against Northwestern. Geronimo played just 10 minutes, going 0-for-2 with three fouls. He'll have an opportunity to bounce back from this performance, but he might have to do so off the bench. Woodson said on Sunday he might "tinker" with the starting lineup, which could go a few different ways.
6-foot-9 freshman Malik Reneau played his best game in a month, adding eight points and three rebounds on 4-for-5 shooting in 24 minutes. Foul trouble has been a major problem for Reneau this season– he had four against Northwestern – and that'll have to change with Thompson out. The other option could be a small-ball lineup with junior guard Trey Galloway joining the starting five. Penn State's 6-foot-10 freshman Kebba Njie is the only Nittany Lion above 6-foot-6 who plays significant minutes, so the Hoosiers could opt for a smaller lineup.
3. Defending Jalen Pickett
Penn State's 6-foot-4 senior point guard Jalen Pickett does it all for the Nittany Lions. He's scored 26 points in each of the last three games, and he's averaging 7.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists. Pickett is not 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 to contain Northwestern guard Boo Buie on Sunday, and it's clear they miss Xavier Johnson's on-ball defense.
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- WOODSON RADIO SHOW: Here are the most notable comments from Indiana basketball coach Mike Woodson on his weekly radio show "Inside Indiana basketball" with Don Fischer. CLICK HERE
- JACKSON-DAVIS MOVES UP SCORING LIST: Trayce Jackson-Davis was already No. 15 on Indiana's all-time scoring list before he decided to come back for his senior year. Now he's on the move up the scoring list again in 2022-23, and we'll update the scoring list after every game. CLICK HERE
- BRACKETOLOGY: In the latest ESPN Bracketology by Joe Lunardi, Indiana basketball fell to a No. 8 seed after losses to Iowa and Northwestern last week. The Big Ten and Big 12 conferences are battling for the most teams in the NCAA Tournament, each with nine in this week's bracket. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA SCHEDULE: The 2022-2023 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball schedule is set. Here is the full schedule, with dates, gametimes and TV information, plus links to the stories on the games already played. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA DEPTH HAS TO STEP UP: Indiana point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week after scoring a combined 54 points, 12 assists and six rebounds in losses to Iowa and Northwestern. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA OUT OF AP POLL: Indiana basketball is not featured in Monday's Associated Press top-25 poll for the first time in the 2022-23 season. The Hoosiers suffered two ugly losses this week, at Iowa and on their home court against Northwestern. Only two Big Ten teams made this week's ranking, No. 3 Purdue and No. 18 Wisconsin. Here's the complete AP Top-25 poll. CLICK HERE
