Jan. 12, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Following a week off, the Nittany Lion basketball team (12-4, 0-3 Big Ten) travels to Bloomington for a matchup against Indiana (12-4, 2-1 Big Ten) on Tuesday inside Assembly Hall (7 p.m. on BTN).
The contest against the Hoosiers will be Penn State's first since a 73-64 setback to Michigan on Jan. 6. Despite the six-day layoff between games, head coach Patrick Chambers believes the break ended up being exactly what his team needed.
After playing three games over the previous seven days, the Nittany Lions were able to use the time off to focus on practice and restoring good habits. That meant plenty of time in the film room as well as an emphasis on improved shooting.
"We've had some really good practices," Chambers said. "This week, you know, I said after the [Michigan] game probably the worst time for a week off, but it turned out to be the best time, it really did. We went back to October type practices. To build better habits and just to stick more together, a little more film, a little more shooting and get back to our roots and get back to creating the best that we can to be successful in the Big Ten."
At this point in the season, the conference schedule is in full swing for the Nittany Lions. After Tuesday's trip to Indiana, they return home for a matchup against Purdue on Jan. 17 before hitting the road once again for a Jan. 21 game at Michigan State.
Although winning on the road in the Big Ten is always a challenge, this particularly Penn State squad has shown it has the ability to play well in hostile environments, having gone 2-0 in non-conference true road games and shooting 54 percent in an 89-73 setback at No. 4 Wisconsin.
"I believe we have the talent, I believe we run a really good offense, we know we have the defense and rebounding," Chambers said. "But now we have to take it on another level mentally to be able to compete on a nightly basis."
If the Lions can rediscover the shooting stroke that helped them start the season on a 12-1 run before giving the Badgers all they could handle, they will be well positioned against the Hoosiers. For the players, the weeklong hiatus has been vital in helping them rediscover that form.
According to leading scorer D.J. Newbill, the grind of the season was starting to take its toll on the Nittany Lions at the beginning of the conference schedule. Now that they have had the chance to rest up, the senior guard is confident that the shots will start to fall for he and his teammates.
"The week off, it was well needed," Newbill said. "It's good to get a week off to really get some practice time in. Before its kind of hard when you have a game every other day. So got the practice time in and get back to recreating some great habits and I think we had a great week."
In Indiana, Chambers sees an opponent that plays a similar fast-paced style to teams he coached at Villanova as an assistant under Jay Wright. Still, the Nittany Lions have a history of recent success in Assembly Hall, having won three of their last five games there.
"They're playing like an old-school Villanova team, an old-school Marquette team," Chambers said. "They're playing small, they're quick, they shoot a ton of threes. They've really got a good team. So we've got to defend, we've got to rebound and we've got to do the little things and we've got to limit their good looks from the outside and we've got to play really good transition defense."
Indiana enters Tuesday's matchup after topping No. 22 Ohio State on Saturday (69-66). The Hoosiers are 2-1 in conference play with a road win at Nebraska to go along with beating the Buckeyes in Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers are 10-1 at home this season, including an 81-69 victory over Pittsburgh in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
True freshman James Blackmon Jr. is Indiana's top scoring threat. Blackmon is averaging 16.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Blackmon is also shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc. Point guard Yogi Ferrell is averaging 15.9 points per contest. Sophomore forward Troy Williams is the third Hoosier averaging double-figures (12.7 ppg).
The Lions will be seeking their second-straight win at Indiana following a dramatic 66-65 win over the Hoosiers on Feb. 12, 2014. Tuesday's game marks Penn State's third road game out of the last four to open Big Ten play.