Live Blog: Follow Indiana's Big Ten Tournament Game Against Penn State
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – It's win or go home for No. 6 seed Indiana on Thursday night in the Big Ten Tournament against No. 11 seed Penn State.
Coach Mike Woodson and the Hoosiers ended the regular season on a four-game win streak, while the Nittany Lions have one two in a row under first-year coach Mike Rhoades. Penn State defeated Indiana in both regular season matchups this season, 85-71 on Feb. 3 in Bloomington and 83-74 on Feb. 24 in University Park, Pa.
Welcome to our live blog for Thursday's game at approximately 9 p.m. ET at the Target Center in Minneapolis, where we'll share live updates, highlights and thoughts on the game.
10:14 p.m. – Reneau drives and misses on the final possession, but Leal flies in for the tip in. Puff Johnson misses a three at the buzzer. Indiana survives, 61-59. Hoosiers will play Nebraska tomorrow.
10:11 p.m. – Baldwin misses a floater. Timeout Indiana with 24.3 left, tied 59-59.
10:10 p.m. – Johnson misses short on a three from the top of the key, then Baldwin misses a three on the other end. Johnson got the rebound and took to the basket, but officials call a jump ball with Baldwin defending. Woodson and IU fans disagree heavily.
10:08 p.m. – Reneau lobs it to Ware for an easy dunk. Penn State has gone to a zone the last few minutes, which has really slowed down the game. Rhoades calls a timeout with IU leading 59-57, 1:35 left.
10:07 p.m. – It's turned into somewhat of a free throw shooting contest down the stretch, with 40 fouls split evenly. Tied 57-57 with two minutes left.
10:03 p.m. – Wahab picks up his fifth foul. That's a big loss for Penn State, which doesn't have much depth at the center position. Mitchell checks in, so they're going even smaller than normal. Ware goes 1-for-2 at the line. IU leads 56-55 with 3:30 left.
9:59 p.m. – Mgbako picks up his fourth foul. Indiana is in a bit of foul trouble. Reneau has four. Cupps, Leal and Ware each have three.
9:58 p.m. – Indiana going small now, with Johnson, Leal, Cupps, Mgbako and Ware in the game, leading 55-53 with 4:23 left.
9:54 p.m. – Indiana is really making a strong effort to get to the line in the last few minutes. The Hoosiers have scored seven points in the last five minutes at the line to take a 55-51 lead with 5:12 left.
9:51 p.m. – Indiana now 9-for-10 at the free throw line, a key factor in this close game. The last two from Reneau put the Hoosiers ahead 52-49.
9:47 p.m. – Mgbako checks back in the game with 7:33 left after Cupps picks up his fourth foul. Dunn puts Penn State ahead 49-48 with free throws.
9:44 p.m. – Reneau draws an offensive foul on Johnson, so IU takes a 48-47 lead at the under-8 timeout. Mgbako has been on the bench for about six minutes after picking up his third foul. Might be time to bring him back in down the stretch.
9:42 p.m. – Ware puts a crafty move on Wahab, but his layup is answered by a Johnson three on the other end. Leal made another strong drive to the basket, this time drawing Wahab's third foul. Leal makes one free throw. IU leads 48-47 with 8:57 left.
9:40 p.m. – Johnson and Reneau turn it over on back-to-back possessions. Those two have eight combined turnovers tonight. Leal drives and gets to the line, then makes 2-of-2 free throws. IU leads 45-44 with 10:10 left.
9:37 p.m. – Reneau picks up his third foul. All three have come on the offensive end. He stays in the game for now. Cupps draws a charge on the other end.
9:33 p.m. – Indiana comes out in a zone after the timeout.
9:28 p.m. – Johnson pulls up and knocks down a mid-range jumper after an ugly miss from Penn State's O'Boyle. Good defensive possession from IU on the other end leads to a Gabe Cupps three, which puts IU back on top, 43-42.
9:25 p.m. – Mgbako picks up his third foul with 14:47 left in the half but stays in the game.
9:19 p.m. – Cupps fouls Hicks on a made 3-pointer. That's the second time Indiana has done that tonight, Leal being the culprit on the first. IU trails 42-36 now, its biggest deficit of the night.
9:17 p.m. – Xavier Johnson turns it over trying to find Ware with a bounce pass on a pick and roll. Puff Johnson takes it the other way and makes a layup while getting fouled by Mgbako, his second. Penn State has its first lead of the game, 35-34.
9:14 p.m. – Baldwin takes Cupps off the bounce and to the basket on the first possession of the second half. That's his first points of the game despite being Penn State's leading scorer. Ware draws a foul on Wahab, his second, then goes 2-for-2 at the line. IU leads 34-29.
8:59 p.m. – Halftime: Indiana 32, Penn State 27. Mackenzie Mgbako leads all scorers with 10 points, and IU shot 45.2%. Ware, Reneau and Leal each have two fouls. Penn State shot 21.2%, including 0-7 from leading scorer Ace Baldwin. Penn State has +8 advantage at the free throw line.
8:54 p.m. – Payton Sparks takes a charge against Nick Kern, his second. Sparks has mostly been out of the rotation in the last month, but he checked in late in the first half so Ware avoids picking up a third foul. IU leads 30-27 with 40.4 left.
8:52 p.m. – Penn State is 10-11 at the free throw line. Indiana hasn't attempted any but still leads 28-25 with 2:21 left in the half.
8:47 p.m. – Reneau called for another offensive foul, his second, at the 3:26 mark. Both of his fouls have been on the offensive end, bumping too hard into the Penn State defender, the officials say. Ware picks up his second foul shortly after, at the 3:01 mark. Free throws cut IU's lead to 26-23. Will need Ware to avoid a third this half.
8:42 p.m. – Really nice drop-off pass from Johnson to Ware for an easy dunk. Lilley answers with a dunk on the other end. IU's defense never got set. IU leads Penn State 26-21 with 4:00 left in the half.
8:40 p.m. – Leal called for a foul as Hicks made the three. Leal certainly didn't hit Hicks' arm, as both of his hands were near Hicks' chest. Looked like a bad call from my angle. Anyways, that cuts Indiana's lead to 24-19.
8:38 p.m. – Leal breaks the Penn State press with a bounce pass to Johnson, who takes it coast to coast for an easy layup. IU leads 22-15 with 6:18 left.
8:30 p.m. – Leal good from three in the corner, assisted by Cupps in transition. Those two are 2-for-2 to start. Penn State shooting just 20% from the field so far. IU leads 20-13 after a Baldwin free throw.
8:29 p.m. – A shot fake frees Mgbako up for an easy drive and layup. The help defense was nowhere to be seen from Penn State. The Nittany Lions are having a rough time getting shots to fall, too, going 4-for-18 to start. IU leads 17-12.
8:23 p.m. – Cupps good from three in the corner. Without Galloway's 10 points per game, Indiana will need Cupps to hit a few shots. So far, so good. IU leads 13-10 with 11:07 left in the half. Penn State shooting just 26.7% from the field so far.
8:22 p.m. – Leal and Walker first off the bench for IU, replacing Mgbako and Reneau.
8:21 p.m. – Looks like Malik Reneau has some pain in his right shoulder. He was grabbing it and wincing in pain for a couple possessions after missing a put-back dunk. He was still able to finish a layup a minute later, so it looks like he's alright for now. Dunn hits a three for Penn State, cutting IU's lead to 10-5.
8:17 p.m. – Mgbako backs Hicks down in the lane and finishes strong. Some confusion from Penn State on the other end leads to Baldwin throwing the ball out of bounds. IU leads 8-2, 15:14.
8:15 p.m. – Mgbako misses a driving layup, but Reneau was there for the tip in. Wahab has missed all four of his attempts in the lane, a strategy I wouldn't recommend against Indiana, which has 7-footer Kel'el Ware down low. IU leads 6-2 at the under-16.
8:12 p.m. – Ware blocks Wahab inside, but Puff Johnson flies in for the rebound and put-back dunk. Reneau called for an offensive foul on the next possession. IU leads 4-2, 17:02.
8:08 p.m. – Indiana wins the opening tip, and it's a quick-hitter alley-oop to Ware for an easy dunk. Indiana has run that play off the opening tip successfully a handful of times this year. Hoosiers get a stop on the other end.
8:06 p.m. – Indiana is a 2.5-point favorite just before tipoff.
8:03 p.m. – Trey Galloway in street clothes. He won't play tonight.
7:51 p.m. – Starters for Indiana tonight are Xavier Johnson, Gabe Cupps, Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau and Kel'el Ware. For Penn State, it's Ace Baldwin, Nick Kern, Puff Johnson, Zach Hicks and Qudus Wahab. Officials are Jeff Anderson, Courtney Green and Andy O'Brien.
7:48 p.m. – No sign of Trey Galloway in pregame warmups for Indiana. That would mean increased minutes for Gabe Cupps, Anthony Leal and CJ Gunn, next to Xavier Johnson in the back court.
6:30 p.m. – Trey Galloway and Anthony Walker are listed questionable for Indiana on the pregame availability report. Galloway played just seven minutes on Sunday against Michigan State due to an apparent knee injury. Walker hurt his knee at Minnesota on March 6, but played Sunday against Michigan State.
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