Hoosiers try to sweep Penn State
By COLLIN O’CONNOR
ISL Correspondent
Fresh off of their sixth Big Ten loss in six tries, Penn State will again face the daunting task of trying to stop one of the nation’s best offenses in Indiana. The Hoosiers proved that slowing them down offensively will be tough for this Penn State team to accomplish when they crushed the Nittany Lions 74-51 on Jan. 7.
However, Indiana will have to play better on Wednesday than it did in the second half against Northwestern on Sunday if it plans to run away with this one. The Hoosiers have struggled as of late to play a complete 40-minute game, dating all the way back to their win against Minnesota on January 12.
Without leading scorer from last year in Tim Frazier, though, Penn State has struggled to score this season, averaging just 62.2 points a game, which puts them at 282nd in the country. Against an Indiana team that ranks second in the country in putting points on the board, it will require a much better offensive performance than usual for the Nittany Lions to come away with a win at Indiana.
Whether this team is capable of this is yet to be determined, but the Nittany Lions have shown signs of improvement in their recent nine point loss to No. 18 Michigan State and a four point loss to Nebraska. Their 72 points against the Spartans were a team high in conference play, and that performance came against a team that has been very solid on that end of the floor this season.
Penn State also will need to slow the tempo. The Hoosiers like to go with to get out in transition, even after a made basket.
Christian Watford had a big day against this team in the last match-up, scoring 16 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Cody Zeller has been playing very well as of late, averaging 22 points and 11.5 rebounds in his last two games.
Combine that with the strong play of point guard Yogi Ferrell recently, Victor Oladipo, who appears to be full recovered from an eye injury during the Northwestern game, and Will Sheehey coming off of the bench, and the Hoosiers have a chance to go off against a Penn State team that is looking for its first Big Ten win.
Overall, the skill and athleticism that the Hoosiers bring to the table will most likely be too much for Penn State to handle. The Hoosiers led by as many as 23 in their last game at Penn State and that is the expectation for Wednesday night as well. It will be interesting to see, though, if the Hoosiers can string together a full 40 minutes of strong, disciplined basketball.
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