BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A strong second half and stellar 3-point shooting afternoon propelled the Penn State men's basketball team to its first win in Assembly Hall in nearly 10 years as the Nittany Lions earned their second-straight road win with an 85-71 victory at Indiana Saturday afternoon.
Penn State trailed by 11 points with 5:15 left in the first half, but out-scored the Hoosiers 62-37 the rest of the way as the Nittany Lions earned a road win in Bloomington for just the fourth time in program history. Penn State shot a season-high 57.4 percent (31-54) from the field and 54.5 percent (12-22) from 3-point range.
Senior Ace Baldwin Jr. orchestrated masterfully once again, finishing with a team-best 22 points and eight assists. Junior Zach Hicks scored a season-high 19 points and added five rebounds. Graduate student Qudus Wahab was 7-for-8 from the field, finishing with 14 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Sophomore Jameel Brown was 4-for-5 from deep for 14 points, while junior D'Marco Dunn rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Nittany Lion offense started cold as Indiana owned a 16-6 lead just under seven minutes into the first half. Penn State started to heat up at the 12:46 mark as a Jameel Brown triple sparked a 10-3 run over the next two minutes to pull the Nittany Lions within three at 19-16 with 10:50 left on the first-half clock.
- The Hoosiers worked their lead back to double-digits at 34-23 five minutes later, but Brown helped ignite a Nittany Lion response once again as the guard hit back-to-back 3-pointers that were followed by a Puff Johnson layup to bring Penn State within three at 34-31 at 3:16. An even end to the half allowed the Hoosiers to take a 41-37 lead into halftime.
- A pair of 3-pointers from Zach Hicks and Ace Baldwin Jr. at the 17:30 and 16:50 marks gave Penn State is first lead of the game as the Nittany Lions used a 10-2 half-opening run to take their first lead of the game at 47-43 just over four minutes into the term.
- With the Hoosiers within three at 51-48, a Wahab hook shot was followed by back-to-back treys from D'Marco Dunn and Brown to give the Nittany Lions a double-digit edge at 59-48 with 12:05 to play.
- Indiana wouldn't get closer than 12 the rest of the way as Penn State kept its foot on the gas and out-scored the Hoosiers 48-30 in the second half en route to the 85-71 win.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State earns just its fourth win in Bloomington in program history and its first since it took down the Hoosiers in Assembly Hall on Feb. 12, 2014. Indiana held a 23-3 all-time advantage in games played vs. Penn State in Bloomington entering Saturday's game.
- The 14-point win in Bloomington is Penn State's largest road win at Indiana in program history.
- Penn State has now earned back-to-back Big Ten road wins, both by 14 or more points.
- The Nittany Lions shot a season-best 57.4 percent (31-54) from the field, including a blistering 64.0 percent (16-25) in the second half.
- Penn State drilled a season high-tying 12 triples at a season-best 54.5 percent (12-22) clip.
- After shooting 57.1 percent (16-28) in the first half, Indiana shot just 37.5 percent (9-24) in the second half.
HIGHLIGHTS
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions return home Thursday to host Iowa inside the Bryce Jordan Center. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on Big Ten Network.
The 2023-24 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.