Big Ten Tournament 2012: Indiana Advances with 75-58 Win over Penn State

The Indiana Hoosiers (25-6) have continued their hot streak with a 75-58 win at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in the first round of the Big Ten tournament today over the Penn State Nittany Lions.

The win was Indiana’s first Big Ten tournament win since 2006, and first under the Tom Crean.

The Hoosiers played well all day in moving the ball around and rebounding great. The Hoosiers out-rebounded Penn State by 11 in today’s contest.

One thing Indiana will need to do a lot better is shoot a better percentage from the field. The Hoosiers only shot a dismal 36 percent from the field today.

One bright spot shooting-wise, though, was the free-throw shooting. Indiana hit 80 percent of their free throws and got to the line 36 times.

Leading Indiana in scoring today was junior Jordan Hulls, who scored 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting.

Cody Zeller and Christian Watford both had double doubles today, with Zeller going for 19 points and 10 rebounds and Watford with 14 points and 10 boards. Watford scored 10 of his 14 points from the foul line in going a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe.

Victor Oladipo had a rough day shooting, but was big on the boards as he joined Zeller and Watford with 10 rebounds as well.

That trio combined for 30 of Indiana’s 38 rebounds. If the Hoosiers can continue to get that kind of effort on the glass from those three, then watch out.

Indiana will advance to play fourth-seeded Wisconsin in a rematch of the 57-50 Badgers victory in Madison on January 26th. The Hoosiers will do so without senior Verdell Jones III, as he suffered a severe knee injury in the first half.

You can catch tomorrow’s game on ESPN, as tip-off is approximately at 2:30 p.m. ET.

If Indiana wins tomorrow, they will have the highest win total since the 31-win season in 1992-1993.