After a couple sloppy, down-to-the-wire victories, the Hoosiers have to be breathing a slight sigh of relief as Penn State comes to town on Sunday. The Nittany Lions have won games on the road against Northwestern and Illinois earlier in the season, but are reeling from the loss of their All-Everything forward Geary Claxton, who tore his ACL last Tuesday in a loss against Wisconsin.
An article in the Daily Collegian reported that Claxton has about six months of rehabilitation ahead of him before he can start training hard again. A real blow to the Nittany Lions' season and Claxton's hopes of playing in the NBA.
A Claxton-less Penn State squad shouldn't stand much of a chance against IU. I'm predicting an 84-63 victory for the Hoosiers.
It shouldn't be a factor tomorrow, but IU has definitely benefited from the poor free throw shooting of the opposition the last two games. The Illini made 13 of 21 free throws last Sunday or 61 percent, which is actually slightly better than their team average. Minnesota made 11 of 21 free throws, which is about 15 percent lower than their season average. Spencer Tollackson did his best Shaq impersonation from the line for the Gophers, going 0-for-7. Ouch.
It always amazes me how some college (and professional) basketball players shoot such a poor percentage from the line. A free throw is one of the most basic aspects of the game. Yeah, players get fatigued and it has to be a little creepy standing at the line with all those people around, but you would think that making 3 out of 4 free throws would be a reasonable expectation at the Division I level.
As of today, the Hoosiers are the only team in the Big Ten that meet that standard.
