Oumar Ballo collected a game-high 25 points and 13 rebounds as Indiana topped Penn State 77-71 on Sunday in Philadelphia.
Mackenzie Mgbako scored 20 points for the Hoosiers (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten), who won their fourth straight game. Luke Goode chipped in 12 points, while Trey Galloway had eight points and six assists.
Penn State (12-3, 2-2), which had won four straight, was led by reserve Nick Kern’s 21 points. Ace Baldwin Jr. pitched in 12 points and seven assists and Fred Dilione V added 11 points.
Neither team led by more than four during a first half that ended in a 29-29 tie. Ballo led the Hoosiers with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while his teammates were 6-of-18 collectively in the opening 20 minutes.
Indiana began the second half emphatically by scoring the first 12 points.
Mgbako did the heavy lifting at first, knocking down two 3-pointers and a layup to put the Hoosiers ahead 37-29. Myles Rice and Ballo each followed with a bucket to put the visitors up by a dozen.
Konan Niederhauser and Baldwin helped Penn State chip away, as the Nittany Lions snuck within 47-39 with under 15 minutes left. However, Rice and Goode connected on 3-pointers to push the margin back to 14.
Ballo’s bucket with 11 1/2 minutes left increased the lead to 15 for the first time, and then Galloway’s 3-pointer a minute later made it 61-45.
Kern and Dilione accounted for all the scoring during a 9-1 run as the Nittany Lions closed to within 62-54, but Mgbako’s 3-pointer restored an 11-point cushion.
However, Penn State kept fighting. The team scored seven straight — including 3-pointers by Dilione and Kern — to trim the deficit to 65-61 with under six minutes remaining.
Ballo helped keep the Hoosiers ahead over the next several minutes, but the Nittany Lions went on a 6-0 run, capped by Zach Hicks’ 3-pointer, to get within 73-71 with 1:43 left.
Penn State missed its final six shots — all 3-pointers — as Indiana held on. Mgbako and Rice each went 2-of-2 from the foul line in the final minute to secure the victory.
–Field Level Media
