Indiana men’s basketball made its first ever appearance at the Cathedral of College Basketball on Sunday afternoon when it defeated conference foe Penn State at The Palestra in Philadelphia.
The Hoosiers entered the game without their leading scorer, junior forward Malik Reneau, who sustained a knee injury in a Jan. 2 win over Rutgers. Without Reneau, the Hoosiers had a tall task attempting to be the second-ever team to beat the Nittany Lions in the historic arena.
Regardless, a good faith effort to start the second half made the Hoosiers’ Sunday at the Cathedral one to remember, as Indiana held on to secure a 77-71 victory over Penn State.
Sixth-year center Oumar Ballo stuffed the stat-sheet, leading the team with 25 points and 13 rebounds.
Indiana struggled to defend the rim early in the first half as Penn State scored its first 24 points inside the paint. Still, Ballo tallied 14 points and nine rebounds before the intermission, an effort that helped keep the game level at 29 apiece entering halftime.
Both sides struggled to score from the perimeter and shot a combined 2 for 19 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako quickly altered that statistic to start the second half and drained a pair of 3-pointers as the Hoosiers put together an 8-0 run in less than a minute of play. Indiana outscored the Nittany Lions 15-2 out of the intermission and took a 13-point lead just three and a half minutes after being tied.
Penn State used a 19-4 run, capped off by a 3-pointer from senior guard Nick Kern Jr., to cut the Hoosiers lead to as few as 4 with just under six minutes remaining. With less than two minutes remaining, senior forward Zach Hicks drilled a shot from beyond the arc to cut the score to 73-71.
The Cream and Crimson converted four straight free throws to close out the game, securing its second straight Big Ten victory. Mgbako scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half to compliment Ballo’s offensive dominance.
Indiana (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten) will return to Bloomington to host USC (9-5, 1-2 Big Ten) at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa) and columnist Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer (@mateo_frohwer) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
