Indiana is again on the street Sunday afternoon towards Penn State on the Palestra in Philadelphia. The Nittany Lions are 12-2 total and 2-1 in Huge Ten play.
Sunday’s sport will tip at midday ET on BTN:
Indiana will attempt to win its fourth straight sport this weekend when it travels to Philadelphia to play Penn State on the Palestra.
The Nittany Lions personal a pair of high 50 KenPom wins – Purdue and Northwestern – however performed a non-conference schedule ranked 358th in Division I, in line with KenPom. Picked to complete seventeenth within the Huge Ten, the Nittany Lions are one of many shock groups within the convention because the common season nears the midway level.
The Hoosiers, in the meantime, are nonetheless looking for their first Quad 1 win, and Sunday is a chance towards a Penn State squad presently ranked forty first within the NET. The Nittany Lions swept Indiana within the common season in 2023-24 earlier than the Hoosiers prevailed within the Huge Ten event opening spherical in Minneapolis.
MEET THE NITTANY LIONS
Penn State returned 5 notable contributors from final season’s crew that completed 16-17 in Mike Rhoades’ first season in College Park.
The headlining returnee is level guard Ace Baldwin Jr., one of many high two-way guards within the nation. Baldwin leads the Nittany Lions in scoring, minutes, assists and steals.
He’s averaging 15 factors per sport on 39.1 p.c capturing from the sphere and a 31.6 p.c mark on 3s. Baldwin ranks within the high 60 nationally in free throw charge (FTA/FGA) at 64.5 p.c and is 84-for-89 from the free throw line (94.4 p.c). He’s additionally eleventh within the nation in help charge at 39.8 p.c and dishes out 8.5 assists per sport. Baldwin’s relentlessness on offense and tenacity on protection make him one of many elite guards not simply within the Huge Ten however within the nation.
Becoming a member of him within the beginning backcourt is 6-foot-5 sophomore guard Freddie Dilione V, a switch from Tennessee who’s having fun with a bigger position with the Nittany Lions. Dilione is capturing near 56 p.c on 2s and is sixth on the crew in scoring at 9.9 factors per sport.
Senior wing Zach Hicks has been lights out from the perimeter after capturing simply 34.2 p.c from deep final season. The 6-foot-8 native of Camden, New Jersey, is 38-for-85 on 3s (44.7 p.c), taking 73.9 p.c of his subject aim makes an attempt from the perimeter. Hicks is third on the crew in scoring at 12.6 factors per sport.
Fifth-year senior Puff Johnson performs the 4 and is capturing near 69 p.c on 2s by 14 video games. The 6-foot-8 Pennsylvania native averages 11.6 factors and 4.6 rebounds in 23.4 minutes per sport.
Penn State introduced in Northern Illinois switch Yanic Konan Niederhauser to play the 5, a transfer that has been a major improve for the Nittany Lion frontcourt. The 7-foot, 250-pound native of Fraschels, Switzerland, is second in scoring at 13.8 factors per sport and shoots 63.6 p.c from the sphere. He’s twenty second nationally in block proportion and his 6.8 rebounds per sport lead the crew.
The rotation for Rhoades goes eight deep recurrently with Nick Kern, D’Marco Dunn and Kachi Nzeh filling out the minutes. Kern and Dunn are returnees from final season who fill out the backcourt and wing rotation minutes.
The 6-foot-6 Kern has scored in double figures 11 occasions and is capturing 68.1 p.c on 2s. His 11.6 factors per sport are fourth on the crew. The 6-foot-5 Dunn is a 35.3 p.c 3-point shooter this season and shot 36.6 p.c from distance final season.
Nzeh missed Thursday’s sport towards Northwestern with an sickness, however the 6-foot-8, 225-pound sophomore switch from Xavier is often the primary massive off the bench. Nzeh averages 3.8 factors and a couple of.9 rebounds in 13.1 minutes per sport. Freshman Miles Goodman, a 6-foot-11, 225-pound heart, debuted towards Northwestern after lacking the primary 13 video games with an harm. The four-star recruit might push Nzeh for minutes because the season strikes alongside.
TEMPO-FREE PREVIEW
Penn State has put up spectacular numbers by 14 video games, rating within the high 50 in KenPom’s adjusted offensive and defensive effectivity. The Nittany Lions are averaging 87.9 factors and are outscoring their opponents by a median of 20 factors per sport.
The Nittany Lions thrive on turning over their opponents, as they’ve a turnover differential of 76 or 5.4 per sport. Penn State performs at a relentless tempo – seventeenth in adjusted tempo per KenPom – and desires to get out in transition when it forces turnovers. For Indiana, caring for the ball is crucial to staying within the sport.
Penn State is strong throughout the board offensively, rating within the high 50 nationally in efficient subject aim proportion and free throw charge (FTA/FGA) and high 100 in turnover proportion and offensive rebounding proportion. The Nittany Lions don’t take a ton of 3s – they rank 302nd in proportion of factors scored on 3-pointers – however are capturing 35.3 p.c from deep.
WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO
The KenPom projection is Penn State by 4 with a 34 p.c probability of an IU victory. The Bart Torvik projection is Penn State by six with a 30 p.c probability of a Hoosier victory.
The Palestra seats near 9,000 followers and will produce an electrical ambiance of Penn State followers from Philadelphia and the encircling areas. Final season, Penn State beat Michigan on the Palestra 79-73 in early January.
If Indiana is critical about making the NCAA event, this can be a prime alternative to get a quad 1 win and a few momentum heading right into a schedule that will get extraordinarily tough within the again half of the month.
The Hoosiers will doubtless have to attain within the 80s to win this sport, which implies avoiding extended offensive droughts, limiting turnovers and withstanding the inevitable runs Penn State will go on. With the standing of Malik Reneau unknown and the personnel and crew velocity of the Nittany Lions, it’s guess that Indiana will keep on with its smaller beginning lineup on Sunday.
Filed to: Penn State Nittany Lions
