Myles Rice takes no plays off. Let’s start with that. Indiana’s sophomore guard pushes non-stop, from defending to scoring to crashing the glass, and more.
Case in point — Rice’s 21-point, five-rebound, three-assist effort in Thursday night’s win over Rutgers.
It was his seventh game scoring in double figures and his team-leading fourth 20-point game of the season.
Rice was brought in from Washington State to be a catalyst and he has delivered by averaging 12.2 points and 3.2 rebounds. His 18 steals are tied with Malik Reneau for the team lead and his 44 assists are second to Trey Galloway’s 53. He also leads the team by shooting 91.7% on free throws.
Numbers don’t cover Rice’s total impact. He plays with a passion and energy that inspires all the Hoosiers, guard Anthony Leal says.
“We try to make it to where everybody is doing that. Someone has to set the tone every game and you hope that happens in the first few possessions where somebody makes a hard play and it kicks in with everyone else and it becomes contagious and everybody is like, ‘Okay, we got to really match that energy or else we’re just going to be letting them down.’ It’s becoming contagious. It’s selfless team basketball and that’s what we’re about.”
The Hoosiers will need more of that on Sunday afternoon when they face Penn State (12-2, 2-1) at The Palestra in Philadelphia. The location could help IU given the Nittany Lions are 9-0 at home, including an 81-70 victory over Purdue, and are 2-1 at neutral sites.
Leal had his own inspiration play against Rutgers. Beyond his dramatic halfcourt 3-pointer to end the first half, he also played some solid defense on Rutgers’ Ace Bailey, one of the Big Ten’s best scorers. Bailey finished with 39 points, but most of that came against other Hoosiers.
“Anthony is one of our best defenders,” coach Mike Woodson says. “He’s who I go to when I’ve got to go to someone off the bench to guard a key guy.”
IU’s 12 3-point baskets against Rutgers were four more than it had made in a game this season, and 11 more than it had made in its previous game against Winthrop. It was its most 3-pointers in a Big Ten regular season game since making 14 against Iowa in 2018.
“We practice them every day,” swingman Mackenzie Mgbako says, “so to see them going in, that’s what we’re supposed to do. It’s not a surprise. We’re going to keep hitting shots. We’re going to stay with it for the rest of the season.”
As far as bouncing back from the 1-for-20 3-point-shooting performance against Winthrop, Mgbako added, “Just keep shooting. We’ve got to trust ourselves, trust in our ability to make shots and know they’re going to fall down when we need them to. Keep shooting and looking for the open man.”
Reneau’s availability for Sunday’s game is uncertain. He injured his knee in the opening 30 seconds against Rutgers and never returned. If he can’t play, reserve players will have to step up, Woodson says.
“I’ve got to help our bench more,” he says. “I’ve got to get them comfortable having fun and flying around and doing things on both ends of the floor that we’re supposed to do. We’re not there yet. We’ve got a long way to go.”
Leal says IU’s depth allows it to wear down opponents. Against Rutgers, that resulted in a 34-8 edge in second-chance points.
“We were all mindful of trying to get extra shots and opportunities and see what could come from it,” he says.
Penn State is coming off an 84-80 home victory over Northwestern behind forward Zach Hicks’ 20 points. He averages 12.6 points and shoots 44.7% from 3-point range.
Guard Ace Baldwin Jr., last year’s Big Ten defensive player of the year, leads the Nittany Lions with a 15.0 scoring average as well as 119 assists. Yanic Konan Niederhauser, a 7-foot forward, averages 13.1 points and 6.8 rebounds. Guard Nick Kern averages 11.6 points. Swingman Puff Johnson averages 10.6.
Penn State has won four straight since an 80-76 loss at Rutgers. It has scored more than 100 points three times, with two other games of more than 90 points. It averages 87.9 points per game.
