Indiana vs. Penn State: Game preview, prediction, TV schedule
Either the Indiana Hoosiers or Penn State Nittany Lions will have a winning record in conference play by the end of their Tuesday night affair.
TV Schedule: Tuesday, January 9, 6:30 p.m. ET, BTN
Arena: Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana.
The Indiana Hoosiers and Penn State Nittany Lions are two proud Big Ten programs. Both are in for rude awakenings as conference play carries on, though.
Even though Indiana is the greater historical program, the sledding has been tough in Archie Miller’s first season. The team is just treading water, with a 9-7 record overall and a 2-2 record in Big Ten play.
Making matters even worse, forward De’Ron Davis suffered a leg injury in practice last week. The sophomore, averaging 9.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, is out indefinitely.
Indiana may have some positive momentum, though. They won at Minnesota (a suddenly reeling program) and witnessed a career-effort from Robert Johnson, who dropped 28 points in the win. The senior is now averaging a career-best 13.6 points per game.
Penn State is also coming off a convincing win, a 15-point demolishing of Northwestern. Sophomore forward Lamar Stevens scored a career-high 30 points in the win. Combined with leading scorer Tony Carr – also a sophomore – the Nittany Lions have a bright future ahead of them.
Saying that time is now is tough, based solely on Penn State’s schedule to this point. Outside of a win at Iowa, there aren’t any impressive, resume-building wins on the team’s schedule. They’ve only played one ranked team this season – a loss to suddenly flailing Texas A&M – and don’t have another ranked opponent on the schedule until the end of the month.
Indiana, on the other hand, has played three ranked teams this season. Two of those games ended in defeat, but one was a neutral court victory over Notre Dame. And that was when the Fighting Irish had Bonzie Colson on the court.
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The Hoosiers’ big game mentality should be enough in what will be a tightly-contested game.
Prediction: Indiana 74, Penn State 73