Coming into this game, no one knew what answers Penn State would have for Indiana's high-powered offense, but it was the Hoosiers' defense that made life especially miserable for the Nittany Lions at the Bryce Jordan Center.
The fifth-ranked Hoosiers took control of the game early, going on a 13-0 run to open a 15-3 lead. It was quite a snoozer after that. The deficit never returned to single-digits.
Indiana's press exposed the Lions' faults as they couldn't handle IU's athleticism and ball pressure. Penn State turned the ball over 19 times in a 68-possession game (28.1%). The Hoosiers were very sloppy themselves (17 turnovers), especially in the 2nd half, but their lead was never in doubt.
Penn State tried mixing in 2-3 zone with their pack-style man defense, but it was quite clear they didn't have the athletes to match up. Despite their turnovers, Indiana scored 74 points on just 42 field goal attempts, and it was a team effort as four of their players finished in double-digits. Christian Watford led the way with 16 points and 8 rebounds while preseason Player of the Year, Cody Zeller, had 15 and 5.
Believe it or not, Ross Travis was the leading scorer for PSU with 14 points, but he was far from efficient. You couldn't fault his aggression as he attempted 17 shots, an extraordinary amount for a guy who only attempts 17% of the team's shots when he's on the floor.
Jermaine Marshall had a strong first half, as his aggression was a welcomed sight for a team that came out as passive as PSU did. He finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists, but was visibly exhausted near the end of this one. As was DJ Newbill, who only had 8 points despite attempting 15 shots.
Once again, Brandon Taylor's foul trouble led to a world of hurt for Penn State, who desperately needs their promising freshman to stay in the game. This team simply doesn't have the luxury of having one of their few offensive weapons on the bench for long stretches of games.
As has been a problem all year, Penn State once again couldn't stop putting their opponents at the foul line. The Lions committed 30 fouls while the Hoosiers attempted 34 free throws (81.0 FTR). In this case, Penn State simply couldn't keep with the Hoosiers' quickness and found themselves out of position many times.
Looking ahead, Penn State welcomes in a likewise-depleted Northwestern team on Thursday at the BJC, a much better match-up for Penn State as both teams will be looking for their first conference win.