Indiana Gets Huge Road Win, Takes Down Penn State 77-71 at Palestra

Oumar Ballo had 25 points and 13 rebounds and Mackenzie Mgbako had a huge second half as Indiana knocked off Penn State 77-71 on Sunday at the Palestra in Philadelphia. It was a big road win for the Hoosiers, who are now 12-3 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten.

Oumar Ballo of Indiana had 25 points in the Hoosiers' win over Penn State on Sunday. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — It's hard to win road games in the Big Ten, no matter where they're played. It's even harder with your leading scorer is out and your fan base is convinced that you don't have the capacity to win tough games.

All of that is true for Indiana — and none of it mattered one bit on Sunday. Despite playing without junior forward Malik Reneau, who was out with a knee injury, Indiana knocked off nemesis Penn State 77-71 at the Palestra in Philadelphia. They did it with great defense, a huge 15-4 run to start the second half, and by making one big play after another in the closing minutes to hold off the Nittany Lions.

"We knew coming into the game they were averaging 88 points a game, and they only had 29 in the first half.'' Woodson said. "They're run (late in the second half) was concerning, but we made the plays down the stretch to get the job done.''

With the win, the Hoosiers are now 12-3 over and 3-1 in the Big Ten. All road wins are big, and this one was too because Penn State (12-3, 2-2) has been a thorn in the side of the Hoosiers since Woodson arrived at his alma mater three-plus years ago. He was just 2-5 against Penn State, and most of those losses were because the Nittany Lions would bash Indiana with three-pointers and created turnovers.

That didn't happen on Sunday. Indiana's defense, which isn't always so hot, shut down a Penn State team that was averaging 87 points a game, seventh-best in the nation. They only scored 29 first-half points, missed their first 12 three-point attempts and were just 3-for-18 all day from deep.

The score was just 29-29 at the half and Penn State had missed all eight threes. Indiana wasn't much better — just 2-for-11 — but that changed quickly coming out of the break. An amazing 12-0 run by Indiana to open the half all happened in about 90 seconds, and sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako was right in the middle of all of it. He hit two threes and scored on a layup to start the half, getting a big assist from Trey Galloway and a huge steal from Myles Rice. Rice scored on a layup and Oumar Ballo scored after an offensive rebound, and suddenly it was 41-29.

"It was big time. He really opened the door for us,'' Woodson said of Mgbako's hot start. "He started the run with shots and it felt good because we couldn't throw it in the ocean before that in the first half. It became a trickle effect for our ball club."

Indiana built its lead to 16 points, but Penn State did have a run left in them. They finally hit their first three with 6:45 to go, and Freddie Dilione's long ball after a bad Indiana pass made it 65-58. Mgbako got called for traveling and then Nick Kern hit a three at 5:50 and suddenly it was a four-point game.

Ballo took over down the stretch, scoring seven straight points for the Hoosiers. Woodson did a good job of getting him on and off the floor because he had four fouls. He finished wth 25 points and 13 rebounds, and passed 1,000 rebounds for his career.

Penn State got to 73-71 with 1:43 to go on a Zach Hicks three, but they wouldn't score again. Mgbako and Rice each hit a pair of free throws and Penn State missed its last six shots.

Indiana center Oumar Ballo / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Ballo had his second straight monstrous Big Ten game after missing the Dec. 29 Chattanooga game with what Indiana reported as a knee injury. The negative side of the Indiana fan base ripped away at him on social media when he was seen out on the town the night before. It was ugly.

It also may have lit a little a fire. Ballo had 17 points and 12 rebounds in the 84-74 win over Rutgers and had the Assembly Hall crowd behind him while playing a season-high 32 minutes. He did one better Sunday, playing 33 minutes and carrying the Hoosiers offensively for long stretches of the game.

"He was huge for us,'' Woodson said "We are featuring Ballo and he responded big time. He's always been a double-double guy in his career, but with Malik out, I thought he really stepped up.

"Our defense was right where it needed to be to secure the game. When you get a chance to win on the road in the Big Ten, it's big time. You've got to compete like hell when you're on the road. We've seen this earlier this season, where they don't get tight, and they did a great job of making our free throws.''

Ballo knows all about tough conference road games from his time at Arizona, and he knows the deal in the Big Ten. He understands how important this is.

"I'm glad I was able to play through the four fouls,'' Ballo said. "It feels good, especially since we're missing Malik. The whole team had to cover for him, and we did it. Winning on the road in the Big Ten is really hard, and we aren't taking it for granted. We were really focused on it, and I am an emotional person. I'm glad we got the job done today.''

Indiana had 13 offensive rebounds and got a lot of good second looks. It made the second-half run even more impressive, getting extra opportunities. They were 7-for-13 from three in the second half.

"We've working on it in practice, the offensive rebounding. A lot of that is effort,'' Ballo said. "I was just ready for. this game. We played on the road at Tennessee in the beginning of the year in a great environment and we were able to win. To do it today was huge. We needed to win it, and we got it.''

Penn State has been playing a home game at the Palestra while the students are still away from State College since 2017, and they're now 4-2 here. (Purdue and Indiana have the only two wins). It was a terrific environment for a basketball game in the 98-year-old building.

"That was a fun college environment, but I'm just not happy with the result,'' Penn State coach Mike Rhoades said. "Credit to Indiana. They came in here and most of the game they took it to us. I love my team. I love our fight. We didn't trust enough of what we do and how we do it with enough urgency.

"We were playing from behind and digging a hole, a lot of times shooting ourselves in the foot. There were too many plays we're shooting ourselves in the foot at both ends of the court."

Indiana is back in action on Wednesday with a home game against USC. Woodson said he wasn't sure of when Reneua would return.