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    IU basketball game day essentials: Indiana faces Penn State at the Palestra

    Owen GrahamBy IU Basketball 13 Comments
    Photo Credit - Penn State Athletics

    Game Day Essentials:

    Indiana (11-3, 2-1) vs. Penn State (12-2, 2-1)

    Penn State’s Mike Rhoades

    Mike Rhoades is in his second season as head coach of the Penn State men’s basketball program and has an impressive overall record of 204-132 in Division 1.

    Rhoades has made some impressive turnarounds across his tenures in Divison 1. After spending some time as an assistant at VCU, Rhoades was hired as head coach of Rice in 2014. After two seasons at 12-20, Rhoades improved to a 23-12 overall record with Rice in his third season, earning an 11-7 conference record and fifth place in Conference USA.

    Rhoades would then return to VCU as head coach in 2017, where he would spend most of his Division 1 career up to this point. After an 18-15 record in his first season, Rhoades led VCU to a 25-8 overall record and a 16-2 record in the Atlantic 10 conference, good enough for first place. They appeared in the NCAA Tournament that season, along with his last season with VCU in 2022-23. Rhoades led the Rams to a first-place finish once again, and they also won the Atlantic 10 conference championship.

    Rhoades was hired on March 29, 2023, to take over Penn State’s program in place of Micah Shrewsberry. He led the Nittany Lions to a 16-17 record in his first season and a ninth-place finish in the Big Ten.

    Penn State’s results and roster:

    DATE OPPONENT LOCATION RESULT
    11/4/2024 Binghamton University Park, Pa. W 108-66
    11/8/2024 UMBC University Park, Pa. W 103-54
    11/12/2024 Saint Francis (Pa.) University Park, Pa. W 92-62
    11/15/2024 vs. Virginia Tech (Hall of Fame Series) Baltimore, Md. W 86-64
    11/20/2024 Purdue Fort Wayne University Park, Pa. W 102-89
    11/25/2024 vs. Fordham Daytona Beach, Fla. W 85-66
    11/26/2024 vs. Clemson Daytona Beach, Fla. L 67-75
    12/1/2024 Buffalo University Park, Pa. W 87-64
    12/5/2024 No. 8 Purdue University Park, Pa. W 81-70
    12/10/2024 at Rutgers Piscataway, N.J. L 76-80
    12/14/2024 Coppin State University Park, Pa. W 99-51
    12/21/2024 at Drexel Philadelphia, Pa. W 75-64
    12/29/2024 Penn University Park, Pa. W 86-66
    1/2/2025 Northwestern University Park, Pa. W 84-80

    Penn State game notes (via Penn State Athletics)

    THE PALESTRA GAME

    • Penn State makes its return to the historic Palestra Sunday when the Nittany Lions play host to Indiana in the City of Brotherly Love.
    • Penn State has hosted four Big Ten games inside the “Cathedral of College Basketball”, defeating Michigan State in 2017, Iowa in 2020, and most recently Michigan in 2024. Penn State has played 62 total games in The Palestra dating back to 1927.
    • The 2024-25 Nittany Lion roster features two student-athletes with Philadelphia-area ties in Zach Hicks (Camden, N.J.; Camden Catholic) and Kachi Nzeh (Upper Darby, Pa.; George School).

    12-2

    • The Nittany Lions are off to a 12-2 start to the season, their best record through the first 14 games of the season since the 2019-20 campaign.
    • Should Penn State beat Indiana on Sunday, the Nittany Lions’ 13-2 start would be their best start since the 1995-96 team started 14-1. Penn State would also start Big Ten play 3-1, its best start to B1G action since that same 1995-96 team began 4-0.
    • The Nittany Lions rank top 15 in the country in points per game (87.9 – 7th), turnovers forced per game (17.14 – 8th), assists per game (18.4 – 11th), turnover margin (5.4 – 13th) and scoring margin (+20.0 – 14th).

    BALANCED ATTACK

    • Five different Penn State players are averaging double-digit points: Ace Baldwin Jr. (15.0 ppg), Yanic Konan Niederhauser (13.1 ppg), Zach Hicks (12.6 ppg), Nick Kern Jr. (11.6 ppg), and Puff Johnson (10.6 ppg), with Freddie Dilione V nearly reaching the double-digit mark (9.9 ppg).
    • Nine players have scored in double figures, with five different players recording 20-plus point games, in the Nittany Lions’ balanced offensive attack.

    GOT AN ACE UP OUR SLEEVE

    • Ace Baldwin Jr. currently ranks fourth in the country with his 8.5 assists per game and sixth in free throw percentage (94.4%). He is averaging stellar marks of 15.0 points, 8.5 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. He’s notched five points-assists double-doubles and has tallied double-digit assists in more games (6) than he did all of last season (4), including a single-game school record 16 helpers on Dec. 14 vs. Coppin State.
    • The reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Baldwin Jr. earned a spot on the Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Watch List this preseason, in addition to landing on the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List and being named a Preseason All-Big Ten selection.

    Penn State’s KenPom notable numbers:

    (out of 364 teams)

    Tempo – No. 23 (Offense No. 29 / Defense No. 194)

    Offensive Efficiency – No. 33

    • Penn State has been efficient so far, having a 56.6 effective field goal percentage (No. 25). They shoot 35.3 percent on 3-pointers (No. 91) on low volume (35.4% of shots, No. 268) and 58.6 percent on 2s (No. 22).
    • They’re also getting 21.3 percent of their points from the free throw line (No. 73), and have a good percentage team-wide (76.2, No. 56).
    • PSU’s offensive metrics are pretty good across the board. Their turnover percentage is low at 16.1 percent (No. 92) and they also haul in offensive rebounds at a good rate (33.7 percent, No. 75)

    Defensive Efficiency – No. 49

    • The Nittany Lions have an impressive perimeter defense, led by reigning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Ace Baldwin. They force a high percentage of turnovers (23.5 percent; No. 7) which mostly comes from their steal rate (13.7 percent, No. 14).
    • Opponents are shooting an effective field goal percentage of 48.8 percent (No. 113), including 32% from three (No. 126) and 49.3% from two (No. 128).
    • PSU blocks a high percentage of shots, 12.6%, No. 57.
    • Opponents are assisting on 62.4% of field goals (No. 345), indicating Penn State’s pressure can be beat with effective passing.

    OG’s Pick

    Win/Loss Record: 10-2

    Tough matchup for the Hoosiers, especially with Malik Reneau’s health uncertain heading into the matchup.

    However, Indiana’s last game against Rutgers was probably the best game IU has played as a team so far this year, and there were still some avoidable lapses. Taking care of the ball is going to be key against this Penn State team, which has done a great job at forcing turnovers. The shooting numbers will also have to translate well if Indiana wants to keep up with a very good offensive team.

    Although it should be competitive, I just think Reneau not being 100% could prove to be the deciding factor, and in this case, it’s in favor of Penn State.

    PICK: Indiana 67 – Penn State 74

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