Road Wins Over Indiana, Rutgers Proves Mike Rhoades Building Tough Team at Penn State

The environment at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall can be as intimidating as any in college basketball. It's especially alarming if you're making your first-ever appearance within the hallowed halls. None of it bothered Mike Rhoades or the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday, scoring a huge 85-71 win over the Indiana Hoosiers.

Saturday's victory in Bloomington marked the second consecutive road win for the Nittany Lions, defeating Rutgers 61-46 earlier in the week. Prior to this week, Penn State had dropped its first four Big Ten road matchups.

Even more impressive? Penn State won both games without leading scorer Kanye Clary. 

Clary's absence didn't bother Penn State on Saturday. The Nittany Lions still made 12-of-22 shots from 3-point range and finished the game knocking down 57.4% of their shots.

"It's always the mentality I've had with my team. There's sickness, there's illness — they don't cancel the season if a player is injured. They don't cancel a game because somebody's sick. It's gotta be the next man up," Rhoades said after the game. "So, you can go into it already making excuses or you can say, 'Let's figure this out, anyway.' It's still a game. It's the same game we've played."

A big reason for Penn State's success in the last two road games? The play of Ace Baldwin Jr. The senior guard scored 15 in the victory over Rutgers on Wednesday. He scorched the Hoosiers for 22 points in Saturday's win.

Just like his coach, Baldwin hasn't been intimidated by some of the Big Ten's toughest venues. 

"He's just so competitive. The league doesn't know him like I do. His competitiveness is elite. Shooting drill, playing ping-pong, whatever it may be, it's elite," Rhoades said. "He wants to win more than anything. He could play today and not score a point or take a shot if he knew his team would win. That's the difference between him and others playing basketball."

At the beginning of Saturday's game, things didn't look good for the Nittany Lions. Indiana jumped out to a 16-6 advantage and was in complete control of the game. The combination of Malik Reneau and Kel'el Ware appeared to be too much for Penn State's smaller lineup.

That's where Penn State's toughness came into play. 

"Experience. We've been doing it all year long," Rhoades laughingly said when asked about how his team bounced back from the 10-point deficit.

 "We've been very inconsistent throughout this year. ... We've been through a lot of stuff this year, which is always your best teacher. I think we settled down."

The last two games aren't the first indicators that Rhoades is building a tough team in State College. Earlier this year, Penn State overcame an 18-point deficit to beat Ohio State.

In mid-January, Penn State knocked off No. 11 Wisconsin, handing the Badgers their first Big Ten loss of the season. 

But those were games played in the comfort of a home environment. Winning away from the Byrce Jordan Center had been a struggle. Rhoades believes that these last two games have provided valuable lessons to his team.

"We didn't win (on the road) before the Rutgers game this week," Rhoades said. "When you win on the road, then you can say you did it already, let's try to do it again."

Earlier this season, Rhoades talked about going through the "peaks and valleys" when it comes to building a basketball program. There's no doubt Penn State has endured its fair share of hardships this season, but the program is beginning to see the value of having a tough coach on the sideline.

Penn State still has nine Big Ten games remaining on the schedule. Four of those are away from the Bryce Jordan Center. Do road wins over Rutgers and Indiana mean the Nittany Lions have turned a corner this season? Not necessarily.

Rhoades does hope that the recent success translates to more confidence for his team, regardless of environment.

"I hope it gives them confidence to understand the plan that we have works when you take it on the road. And they experienced that twice this week," Rhoades said. "It doesn't mean we're gonna win the next one on the road, but that's the way you prepare — that's the mindset and the approach we have. 

"(When) you play unselfish basketball on both ends of the court, and you're all about your teammates, it always gives you a chance to win. Especially on the road."