.''We got off to great start and should have had a bigger lead going into halftime, but we made some dumb errors,'' Miller said. ''We took a huge punch in the second half and times this year that punch has hurt us a lot more. ''Devonte Green contributed 10 points for the Hoosiers, who made their final four free throws to help seal the win.''At the end of the game, we made almost every single hard hustle play,'' Miller said. ''We were able to make some plays when it was tough. We found a way to finish. For the most part, we played smart. We fought and finished the last two games well defensively.'' Lamar Stevens, who was plagued with foul trouble all game, led Penn State (20-7, 10-6) with 29 points on 11-of-27 shooting.''Lamar was great but he needs help,'' Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said. ''When we are successful we are sharing the basketball. We were relying on one guy.'' Penn State has been without Myreon Jones, who is averaging 14.1 points, who has missed the last five games with an undisclosed illness.''You have give them a little bit of a pass when you have a guy that good that is not playing,'' Miller said. ''Hopefully, he comes back because they are having a great year. They always grind you out and play hard.'' The Nittany Lions opened the second half with 12 unanswered points to slice Indiana's 13-point halftime lead to 37-36. The Hoosiers' cold streak continued as Penn State took a 48-42 lead with 12:17 left.''We came out at halftime and punched back,'' Chambers said, echoing the boxing theme. ''That's a tough environment and we competed until the end.'' In a game of long scoring droughts by each team, the Hoosiers regained control with a 11-0 run punctuated by a dunk by Jackson-Davis to take a 55-48 lead.Justin Smith, who had nine points and eight rebounds, said the Hoosiers have been resilient in winning three of the last four games. Indiana topped host Minnesota 68-56 on Wednesday night.''We lose a couple in a row and everyone wants to count us out and freak out,'' Smith said. ''We never waver. This is a tough league. All the teams are good pretty much. They are going to get you a couple times. We've responded well and we're going to work on the momentum going forward.'' BIG PICTUREIndiana: The Hoosiers have now won three of their last four games and improved their NCAA Tournament hopes with a victory over a ranked team.Penn State: After winning eight in a row, the Nittany Lions have cooled off. They have lost two in a row and saw their hopes for a Big Ten regular season title diminished. The Nittany Lions will need to find another scoring option if Jones doesn't return from his illness soon.POLL IMPLICATIONSPenn State will likely drop several spots in the rankings after losing to unranked Illinois at home on Tuesday night and now unranked Indiana.UP NEXTIndiana travels to Purdue on Thursday night. The visiting Boilermakers beat the Hoosiers 74-62 on Feb. 8.Penn State returns home to face Rutgers on Wednesday night. The Nittany Lions lost at Rutgers 72-61 on Jan. 7.---For more college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://twitter.com/-Top25)
Feb 22, 2020Shortly after No. 9 Penn State had its eight-game win streak snapped Tuesday night against Illinois, coach Pat Chambers was asked whether the loss could be a blessing in order to get his team to refocus."I was really enjoying winning," Chambers said. "Maybe we can start a new (win streak). That will be the next step for this group." The Nittany Lions (20-6, 10-5 Big Ten) will have an opportunity to do precisely that when they visit Indiana (17-9, 7-8) on Sunday in Bloomington, Ind.Indiana has won 11 of the last 14 meetings between the two schools, though Penn State posted a 64-49 victory over the Hoosiers on Jan. 29 in State College, Pa.Penn State will be looking to bounce back from a 62-56 home loss to Illinois. Senior forward Lamar Stevens got into early foul trouble for the Nittany Lions, and Penn State shot just 4 of 19 from 3-point range."Give Illinois credit," Chambers said following the game. "They played really well, they played really tough, their speed really disrupted us, they played small, they fronted Lamar Stevens in the post and played him on the backside, they did some great things."Great lessons to be learned in the Big Ten that you have to show up every night. Nothing is going to be handed to you." Penn State has played its last four games without sophomore guard Myreon Jones, who remains out with an illness. Jones averages a team second-best 14.1 points per game while leading the club in 3-point field goal percentage (41.3 percent)."I just want to make sure he's as healthy as possible before he puts the uniform on again," Chambers said.Indiana is looking to build off a 68-56 road win at Minnesota on Wednesday night. After enduring a four-game losing streak, the Hoosiers have won two of their last three contests.Freshman forward Trayce Jackson-Davis helped carry Indiana to the win over Minnesota, posting his eighth double-double of the season with career highs in points (27) and rebounds (16). The 6-foot-9 Jackson-Davis is averaging a team-high 14.1 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds on the season."He's been a bright spot for us all season and I think he's the freshman of the year in our league," Indiana coach Archie Miller said. "He's my guy and tonight he delivered." Miller also was pleased with the Hoosiers' guard play in the Minnesota win, with Indiana posting an assist-to-turnover ratio of 15 to 10."We were much more under control, and I thought part of being under control was our guards really being strong with it and executing what we wanted to do," Miller said. "When we executed, we got the ball where we wanted to, and as a coach that's all you can ask." The Hoosiers are no strangers to knocking off ranked teams at home this season. Indiana is 13-3 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, with wins over Florida State, Iowa, Michigan State and Ohio State.Penn State, meanwhile, has played well on the road, posting a 5-3 record. Chambers said it will be important for the Nittany Lions to stay unified after its recent home loss."We've got to come closer together now," Chambers said. "This isn't the time to point fingers, this isn't the time to run away from each other. This is the time to come together, and get even closer." --Field Level Media
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