Penn State Drops Tough 83-78 Battle at IndianaPenn State Drops Tough 83-78 Battle at Indiana
Malloreigh Yingling

Penn State Drops Tough 83-78 Battle at Indiana

Nittany Lions snap two-game winning streak

Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Penn State men’s basketball team dropped a tight 83-78 back-and-forth battle at Indiana Wednesday night inside Assembly Hall.

The game saw seven lead changes and 10 tie scores. The Nittany Lions shot 52.9 percent from the field, but the Hoosiers were 10-for-15 (66.7%) from 3-point range.

Ace Baldwin Jr. led Penn State with 22 points, five rebounds, five assists and a season high-tying six steals. Yanic Konan Niederhauser followed with 16 points and seven rebounds. Zach Hicks, D’Marco Dunn, Freddie Dilione V and Nick Kern Jr. all finished with 10 points apiece.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Four points from Yanic Konan Niederhauser and a Freddie Dilione V triple helped Penn State to a quick 7-1 start less than a minute and a half into the game.
  • The Hoosiers went on a 16-5 run as Indiana made six-straight field goals to take a 17-12 lead with 12:07 to play.
  • A Konan Niederhauser conventional three-point play and Ace Baldwin Jr. triple snapped the Indiana streak and sparked a 10-0 Nittany Lion run over the next three minutes that put Penn State back in front 22-17 with 9:10 left on the first-half clock.
  • The score was tied at 22, 24 and 29 as the first-half clock wound down to 3:20 knotted at 29-29. Neither team was able to find more than four points of separation for the remainder of the term as Penn State controlled a 39-37 lead heading into halftime.
  • The Nittany Lions worked their lead to five following a 6-2 run just over four minutes into the second half as a Baldwin Jr. layup had Penn State up 49-44 at 15:50.
  • The Hoosiers battled back to take a one-point lead at 52-51 before the score was tied at 52, 53, 55 and finally 58 with 10:40 left to play.
  • Five points from Baldwin Jr. fueled a 7-2 Nittany Lion run that gave Penn State back a five-point edge at 65-60 with 8:07 on the clock.
  • Indiana responded once again, using back-to-back triples from Trey Galloway to fuel an 8-0 run over a minute-long stretch to pull ahead 75-69 with 4:51 to play.
  • Freddie Dilione V nailed a clutch corner 3-pointer at 4:30 to snap the Hoosier streak and Konan Niederhauser followed with a free throw that had the score at 75-73 in favor of Indiana.
  • Indiana’s Myles Rice scored five-straight points to put the Hoosiers ahead 80-73 with 2:33 to play. Penn State narrowed the gap to three at 81-78 with 41 seconds to go, but the Hoosiers were able to hang on and close the 83-78 win.

GAME NOTES

  • Ace Baldwin Jr. connected on a season-high-tying four threes against the Hoosiers on his way to a 22-point scoring outing. Baldwin Jr. also added six steals, moving him into 17th on the NCAA’s all-time career steals list with 338. The Nittany Lion guard tacked on five assists and added five rebounds.
  • All 10 of D’Marco Dunn’s points came in the second half as he provided a spark for the group as it contested with a hot-shooting Indiana team.
  • Yanic Konan Niederhauser scored 16 points while leading the team with seven rebounds.
  • Freddie Dilione V, Zach Hicks, and Nick Kern Jr. all scored ten points apiece, giving the Nittany Lions six double-figure scorers for the second time in a week, as it did so at home against Nebraska on Feb. 19.

 UP NEXT

  • The Nittany Lions are back home Saturday to host #16 Maryland on Senior Day presented by the Penn State Alumni Association. Tipoff is slated for noon on Big Ten Network.

The 2024-25 Penn State men’s basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.