Opening Line: Penn State Slight Favorite Over Indiana on Wednesday Night

Coming off two tough losses last week, the banged-up Indiana Hoosiers hit the road on Wednesday for a tough Big Ten game with Penn State. The Nittany Lions are slight favorites. Here's the latest on the point spread, and a great history of what both teams have done against the number all season.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Indiana's history in Big Ten road games hasn't been very good the past several years, and it's no different so far this season.

The Hoosiers have lost their first two league road games — at Rutgers and at Iowa. They're back on the road on Wednesday night, traveling to State College to take on Penn State. But this time, the injury-depleted Hoosiers are underdogs. Penn State is a 2.5-point favorite, according to the SISportsbook.com gambling website. The over/under is 142.5. 

*** 1:30 P.M. ET UPDATE: Early money seems to be on Indiana. The line has dropped down slight to 2 points. ***

Indiana is 10-5 on the season, and just 1-3 in the Big Ten, losing at Iowa by two last Thursday and to Northwestern by 1 on Sunday, its first home loss of the season. They fell out of the Associated Press top-25 rankings on Monday, the first time they haven't been ranked in 10 weeks. 

The Hoosiers have struggled of late, and have been missing starting point guard Xavier Johnson since Dec. 17 with a foot injury that required surgery. He's at least a month away from returning. And starting forward Race Thompson went down early in Thursday's loss with a knee injury, and is also out ''indefinitely,'' according to the school. Thompson was walking around without crutches on Sunday, and said he hopes to be back in ''weeks, not months,''

Indiana started the season 7-0, including impressive wins at Xavier and against North Carolina. They are just 3-5 since then, though, and have failed to cover in six straight games. Penn State has covered in just three of its last 10 games, and lost a Big Ten game at home as a favorite to Michigan State. They won and covered at home against Iowa. They lost and failed to cover on Sunday against Purdue in Philadelphia, and the NCAA has deemed that as a home game as well instead of a neutral site game. 

Here's what Indiana has done all season versus the spread:

Indiana by the numbers

• Indiana overall record: 10-5
• Indiana overall vs. spread: 7-8
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• Indiana home record: 8-1
• Indiana home vs. spread: 5-4
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• Indiana road record: 1-3
• Indiana road vs spread: 1-3
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• Indiana neutral court record: 1-1
• Indiana neutral court vs. spread: 1-1
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• Indiana record as favorite: 10-2
• Indiana vs. spread as favorite: 7-5
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• Indiana record as underdog: 0-2
• Indiana vs. spread as underdog: 0-2

Indiana vs. the spread

Here's what Indiana has done this season, straight up and against the spread::

• Nov. 7 — Beat Morehead State 88-53 as a 24.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 10 — Beat Bethune-Cookman 101-49 as a 32.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 18 — Won at Xavier 81-79 as a 1.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 20 — Beat Miami of Ohio 86-56 as a 27.5-point favorite in Indianapolis (won)
• Nov. 23 — Beat Little Rock 86-67 as a 29..5-point favorite (lost)
• Nov. 25 — Beat Jackson State 90-51 as a 28.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 30 — Beat No. 18 North Carolina 77-65 as a 4.5-point favorite (won)
• Dec. 3 — Lost at Rutgers 63-48 as a 3-point favorite (lost)
• Dec. 7 — Beat Nebraska 81-55 as a 12.5-point favorite (won)
• Dec. 10 — Lost to No. 10 Arizona 89-75 in Las Vegas as a 1.5-point underdog (lost)
• Dec. 17 — Lost at No. 8 Kansas 84-62 as a 5.5-point underdog (lost)
• Dec. 20 — Beat Elon 96-72 as a 28.5-point favorite (lost)
• Dec. 23 — Beat Kennesaw State 69-55 as a 17.5-point favorite (lost)
• Jan. 5 — Lost at Iowa 91-89 as a 1.5-point underdog (lost) 
• Jan. 8 — Lost to Northwestern 84-83 as a 7.5-point favorite (lost)

Penn State vs. the spread

Penn State — who is 11-5 on the season, and 2-3 in the Big Ten — lost last week at Michigan and against then No. 1-ranked Purdue. They are 9-7 against the spread this season, but just 3-7 in their last 10 after covering the first six games of the year. 

In true home games at the Bryce-Jordan Center. they are 5-4 against the spread. Here's what Penn State has done this season, straight up and against the number:

• Nov. 7 — Beat Winthrop 93-68 as a 13.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 10—Beat Loyola-Maryland 90-65 as an 18.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 14— Beat Butler 68-62 as a 5.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 17 — Beat Furman 73-68 in Charleston, S.C. as a 3.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 18 — Lost to Virginia Tech 61-59 in Charleston, S.C. as a 3.5-point underdog (won)
• Nov. 20 — Beat Colorado State 68-56 in Charleston, S.C.  as a 5.5-point favorite (won)
• Nov. 25 — Beat Lafayette 75-56 as a 21.5-point favorite (lost)
• Nov. 29 — Lost at Clemson 101-94 in 2-OT in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge as 2.5-point underdog (lost)
• Dec. 7 — Lost to Michigan State 67-58 as a 3.5-point favorite (lost)
• Dec. 10 — Won at No. 17 Illinois 74-59 as a 10.5-point underdog (won)
• Dec. 18 – Beat Canisius 97-67 as an 18.5-point favorite (won)
• Dec. 22 — Beat Quinnipiac 77-68 as an 14.5-point favorite (lost)
• Dec. 29 — Beat Delaware State 60-46 as a 28,.5-point favorite (lost)
• Jan. 1 – Beat Iowa 83-79 as a 2.5-point favorite (won)
• Jan. 4 — Lost at Michigan 79-69 as an 4.5-point underdog (lost)
• Jan. 8 — Lost to No. 1 Purdue 76-63 in Philadelphia as a 5,.5-point underdog (lost)

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• TOM BREW COLUMN: After Penn State lost to Purdue Sunday at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Nittany Lions coach Micah Shrewsberry went off on the inconsistent officiating in the Big Ten, and he figures there might be some blow-back when they face Indiana on Wednesday night in State College. CLICK HERE
• POWER RANKINGS (Vol. 3): Every Big Ten team has at least one loss now after Purdue, Wisconsin and Michigan all lost last week, and for the Boilermakers, they're still No. 1 despite losing at home to Rutgers. They bounced back nicely with wins over Ohio State and Penn State. Here's Volume 3 ofr our Big Ten Power Rankings. 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
• BENCH NEEDS TO STEP UP: Indiana basketball gave up 175 total points in losses to Iowa and Northwestern, suffering constant defensive breakdowns in both games. Losing Xavier Johnson and Race Thompson hurts the Indiana defense, but several Hoosiers need to step up moving forward. CLICK HERE
• INDIANA SCHEDULE: Here is the complete Indiana basketball schedule for the 2022-23 season, with locations, gametimes and TV information, plus links to all the stories on games played so far. It's a great research tool. CLICK HERE
• ALL-TIME SCORERS: Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis is now No. 8 on the Hoosiers' all-time scoring list with 1,800 points, with the great Alan Henderson next on his way up the ladder. Here's a current list of all 1,000-point scorers in IU history. CLICK HERE