It was déjà vu for Indiana basketball on Saturday as lack of shooting and shooters continue to limit offensive production

Indiana basketball has struggled shooting from the perimeter all season long and Saturday’s 83-74 loss at Penn State presented the same story.

Whether from the free throw line, 3s or anywhere outside of the paint, Indiana has failed to put together any sort of competent offensive performance for the majority of this year.

“We just didn’t make plays coming down the home stretch of the first half to keep us right there. But that wasn’t the difference in the game,” Indiana basketball head coach Mike Woodson said postgame. “I thought that we battled. I look at the stat sheet. I look at the free throws and missed opportunities to make threes. I thought that was the difference.”

Despite shooting 50.9 percent from the field and scoring 50 points in the paint, it was the inability to make shots outside of the paint that always had Indiana at an arms length away from striking distance.

Indiana was outscored by 12 at the free throw line and 19 on 3s. Penn State was 26-of-30 from the foul line and 9-of-21 on 3s.

On the flip side, Indiana basketball was 14-of-25 from the free throw line and 2-of-15 on 3s. Both 3s came in the last 1:35 of action.

“We’re getting good looks. We’re getting a lot of good looks,” Woodson said. “I just think from a mental standpoint I’ve got to get them to where they’re comfortable just making them.”

Despite all of that, however, Indiana still had a shot. After trailing by seven at the half and 12 just three minutes into the second half, IU pulled to within two points at 56-54 with 10:06 remaining. It was a quick 7-0 run by Penn State that took a lot of the gas out of the tank for Indiana. That was in large part to the inability to convert at the foul line at critical moments. After cutting the lead to two, Indiana went on to miss four straight free throws — making it more empty possessions that will end up haunting Indiana at the end of this season.

In the second half alone, the Hoosiers were just 5-of-13 from the foul line.

“Free throws is another big problem,” Woodson said. “We’ve struggled to make free throws. Something we work on every day, and we shoot threes every day, and guys just have to come in and feel good about themselves and make them.”

After Saturday, Indiana basketball now ranks 291st in three point percentage, 349th in three point rate and 354th in percentage of points from 3s.

It also ranks 344th in free throw percentage with 15 games below 65 percent.

In the last eight games, Indiana is shooting just 25.5 percent from three and making just 4.3 3s per game.

“We haven’t made them this season,” Woodson said of open shots. “We’ve had our ups and downs. We’ve had stretches where some nights we have made them. But for the most part we have not made them.”

Indiana was outscored 63-21 on 3s in two games against Penn State this season, giving the Nittany Lions its second-ever series sweep and first since the 2008-09 season.

Indiana is now 2-8 in its last 10 games and are now 14-13 overall and 6-10 in Big Ten play.

Currently, Indiana is tied for 12th in the confernece.

“I’ve struggled with this team this year,” Woodson said, blaming himself. “I won’t blame my players. I will always put it on Mike Woodson and that’s how it should be. I’m a big boy and we will try and continue to grow this thing and figure it out but we still got a lot of work on our hands.”

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