IU looks for first conference win

After not playing a game during the week, the Indiana men’s basketball team will travel to University Park, Penn., Saturday to face the Nittany Lions.

Both the Hoosiers (10-5, 0-2) and Nittany Lions (9-7, 0-3) have yet to win a Big Ten conference game this season. The Hoosiers came close to defeating Illinois on New Year’s Eve, falling to the Illini by three in overtime. This past Saturday was a different story; the Michigan State Spartans left Bloomington with a 73-56 win, their largest margin of victory in Assembly Hall since 1990.

Similar to Indiana, Penn State has played Michigan State at home and Illinois on the road. The Nittany Lions fell to the Spartans 79-63, despite leading by seven at halftime, and were trampled by the Illini by a score of 75-55.

Most recently, Penn State lost its third straight Big Ten game on Wednesday night to Minnesota by three points. In the closing seconds of that game, graduate student guard Allen Roberts missed a would-be game tying 3-pointer.

Penn State enters its game against the Hoosiers averaging 77.4 points per game, which ranks sixth in the Big Ten. Indiana averages 80.3 points per game, which comes in at third in the Big Ten.

The Nittany Lions’ leading scorer is graduate student guard Tim Frazier, who averages 17.1 points per game. Four games into the 2013-14 season, Frazier tore the Achilles tendon in his left leg and missed the rest of the season. He was granted a fifth year of eligibility after applying for (and receiving) a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA.

Frazier also leads Penn State in assists and steals per game, averaging 6.9 and 1.8 in those categories. Frazier leads the Big Ten in assists per game and places fifth in steals per game.

Penn State Coach Patrick Chambers is in his third season as head coach of the Nittany Lions. Previously, Chambers had coached for two years before he came to Penn State.
   
As a team, Penn State shoots 45.5 percent from the field, while they’re opponent’s average 41.3 percent. Penn State also averages over 20 3-point attempts per game, making just less than seven per game.

In terms of handling the ball, Penn State turns the ball over roughly 10.5 times per game, while turning its opponent over 10.8 times per contest.

Indiana’s turnover problems have been a recurring issue in its recent contests, and it averages a shade over 16 per game. For the season, the Hoosiers have averaged three more turnovers per game than its opponents.

After his team's loss to Michigan State on Jan. 4, IU Coach Tom Crean said although he’d like to see improved play from the entire team, specifically the sophomore’s on the team have to play better.

“We need to see more out of everybody,” Crean said. “I wouldn’t distinguish. When you lose a game, there’s not one class that doesn’t need to get better. But we’ve got the spotlight on the sophomores right now, if we’re going to break it down to class. They’ve got to improve.

“We’ve got to understand that sometimes we’re just going to have to make some changes in the game with the personnel that’s on the floor to get that understood.”

Follow men's basketball reporter John Bauernfeind on Twitter @JohnBauernfeind