[Postgame 3-2-1] What We Learned From Indiana's BTT Win Over Penn State

Here are three key stats, two observations, and one lingering question from Indiana's second round 61-59 victory in Minneapolis.

[Editor’s note: Josh Pos is on location in Minneapolis covering the Big Ten Tournament this weekend.]

Survive and Advance!

On the back of more late-game heroics from Anthony Leal, Indiana took down a pesky Penn State team in a rock fight in the second day finale at the Big Ten tournament in Minneapolis.

The Hoosiers were once again led by Kel’el Ware, who notched a double-double, scoring 18 points and collecting 14 rebounds.

“It was just one of those types of games, an ugly game,” Indiana head coach Mike Woodson said postgame. “But we made the plays we needed to make coming down the homestretch.”

With the victory, Indiana improves to 1-0 in the postseason and will take on Nebraska tonight at 9 P.M. ET on Big Ten Network.

Now here are three meaningful stats, two observations, and one lingering question coming out of last night’s game.

3 Meaningful Stats

1. Indiana had 32 points in the paint.

For the millionth game in the Mike Woodson era, Indiana dominated the front-court battle.

Like many teams this season, Penn State had no answer for the tandem of Reneau and Ware as the two combined for nearly half of Indiana’s points.

“They're two all-conference bigs,” Anthony Leal said postgame. “I don't think there's many frontcourts in the league that can play with them when they do what they do.”

The 3-point shot continues to take a back seat in Indiana’s offense — but when Reneau and Ware are converting high-percentage looks inside, and the opposition is struggling to score, there is less of need to take shots from behind the arc.

Indiana shot 3-12 from three, but the trio of makes came at quintessential times.

The Hoosiers have found their identity outscoring their opponents in the paint, which has led to five consecutive victories.

2. Penn State shot 27% from the field.

Beyond the ugly basketball being played from an offensive standpoint, the Indiana defense smothered Ace Baldwin Jr. and Penn State for most of the night.

After combining to score 45 points in the two regular season games against Indiana, Baldwin Jr. had a night to forget.

The VCU transfer was hounded all night, scoring just nine points on 3-15 shooting, including 0-7 from deep.

The cause of this rare off-night for Baldwin Jr.? Look no further than Xavier Johnson.

Johnson did not play in the regular season games against the Nittany Lions, and he made it a goal to make Baldwin Jr’s night as difficult as possible.

“That wasn’t happening tonight,” Johnson said. “I take every challenge upon myself to shut people down.”

Outside the first four minutes of the second half, Indiana played suffocating defense, forcing tough shots on almost every possession. A lot of which Mike Woodson contributes to his sixth-year guard.

“Getting [Johnson] back gives us some stability a little bit in the backcourt, and defensively we've picked up,” Woodson said. “Offensively we've made shots. We didn't tonight, but in the previous four games, we've really been shooting the ball extremely well from the 3-point line, and we've been making our free throws.”

3. There were 23 fouls called in the second half alone.

They say there are three things in life guaranteed:

Death, taxes, and Courtney Green inserting himself into a Big Ten basketball game.

The mere idea of nearly two-dozen fouls in a half is absurd, especially when taking into account that there were no late-game fouling situations necessary last night.

In all, there were 40 fouls called in the game. Two guys fouled out, three had four, and another trio had three.

Last night’s debacle from the officials (on both sides) was just one of the many times it has happened, not only in Indiana games, but many times throughout the conference over the season.

The Big Ten hasn’t won a National Championship since Michigan State did it in 2000, and the glaring issue was again present in Minneapolis last night.

It is well past time for the conference to take a deep look from the inside and realize that there is a direct correlation between the inconsistency of their officials and the lack of sustained success in the NCAA Tournament.

Now let’s look at two observations and a lingering question for these red-hot Hoosiers …