What I'm watching as IU basketball shakes off rust, resumes Big Ten play at Penn State

Indiana's 4 p.m. game Sunday at Penn State marks the return of Big Ten basketball, for good this time.

The Hoosiers went 1-1 in the now annual incursion of league play into the December schedule and stepped back into nonconference play since. Now it's all Big Ten games the rest of the way until postseason. The Hoosiers didn't get a Quadrant 1 or Quadrant 2 win according to the NET rankings out of nonconference play, so their NCAA tournament hopes ride almost entirely on how they finish in the league.

More: As omicron sweeps through college sports, IU AD confident in COVID-19 protocols

They return to league play with a road game against a 5-5 Penn State team led by Micah Shrewsberry, a Cathedral graduate and former assistant at Butler under Brad Stevens and Purdue under Matt Painter. Here are three things I'll be watching for on Sunday.

How will rust from COVID-related pauses affect each team?

Penn State hasn't played a game since its Dec. 11 loss at Michigan State. The Nittany Lions had games against Virginia Commonwealth and Quinnipiac canceled because of COVID-related concerns in their own program and then also had its game against Delaware State canceled on Wednesday because of COVID issues at DSU. Shrewsberry said although the Nittany Lions had resumed practice and had enough players cleared to be able to play, not all of the players who tested positive had cleared protocol.

The Hoosiers haven't reported any positive tests in their program, but they also had to cancel a game Wednesday because UNC Asheville had COVID related issues. So both programs will be dealing with rust.

Penn State will obviously be dealing with more, and it's uncertain at this point which players it will actually have available and whether any of them will still be dealing with any lingering fatigue from the virus. But Indiana will also be coming off a 10-day layoff that includes the Christmas holiday, so the Hoosiers might not be firing on all cylinders either.

The Trayce Jackson-Davis-John Harrar matchup

Indiana All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis hasn't seen another five man this season who is anywhere near his class individually, but he's about to see a lot more of them. The Big Ten was home to most of the nation's best big men in 2020-21, and most of them stuck around for this season, including Illinois's Kofi Cockburn, Michigan's Hunter Dickinson and Purdue's Trevion Williams.

Penn State's John Harrar isn't quite in that stratosphere, but the fifth-year senior has a grown-man's body at 6-9, 240 pounds. He's powerful in the post and extremely difficult to keep off the glass. He's averaging 11.4 points and 10.6 rebounds this season, making 71.4% of his field goal attempts and grabbing double-figure rebounds in seven of Penn State's 10 games.

Harrar doesn't have Jackson-Davis' athleticism and has just three blocked shots this season, so Jackson-Davis probably won't have a problem getting a shot over him. That said, Harrar does have the size to body him up and could at least force Jackson-Davis to take shots that are further away from the rim than he would like to.

Can Indiana keep Sam Sessoms away from the rim?

Indiana ranks 13th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency and second nationally in effective field goal percentage defense according to KenPom.com in large part because it doesn't give up buckets around the rim. With strong perimeter defense at the point of attack and Jackson-Davis and senior forward Race Thompson there to contest shots around the rim, Indiana ranks third nationally in defending 2-point shots, holding opponents to 39.4% shooting around the arc.

But in Penn State guard Sam Sessoms, the Hoosiers will be facing one of the toughest guards in the league to keep away from the rim. He scored 17 points off the bench against Indiana in the teams' overtime meeting at Assembly Hall on Dec. 30, 2020 because the Hoosiers couldn't keep him from finishing at the rim. The 6-foot, 189-pound junior is averaging 13.3 points per game and making 51.5% of his field goal attempts because he's so good off the bounce. According to hoop-math.com, 52.4% of his field goal attempts come at the rim and he's making 64.8% of those attempts.

Sessoms' talent off the dribble helps the rest of Penn State's scorers get open looks. He's one of four starters with double-figure 3-pointers this season, and the Nittany Lions rank sixth in the Big Ten with eight made 3-pointers per game. Power forward Seth Lundy, who leads the Lions with 14.7 points per game, also leads the team with 21 3-pointers. Guard Myles Dread, who has taken just five 2-point shots, has made 18 3s. It is critical, therefore, the Hoosiers get good on-the-ball defense from Xavier Johnson and Rob Phinisee to keep Sessoms from going downhill and to keep its wings from having to cheat off of shooters.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana basketball vs. Penn State: What to watch in Big Ten matchup