Penn State Hangs Tough, Falls Late to Indiana

Story posted January 10, 2012 in CommRadio, Sports by Artyom Kneuer

The Penn State men's basketball team narrowly missed upsetting the Indiana Hoosiers (15-1, 3-1 Big Ten) Sunday afternoon, falling 88-82 at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Three days after blowing out the Purdue Boilermakers at home, the Nittany Lions (9-8, 1-3 Big Ten) continued to hold their own against tough Big Ten competition. Indiana came in as the 12th-ranked team nationally and second in the Big Ten standings behind only Michigan State.

The close game certainly surprised and excited Nittany Lion fans, but Penn State head coach Pat Chambers was not satisfied with the result.

"There are no moral victories," said Chambers. "Losing is not acceptable. And it will never be acceptable."

The game remained close from start to finish, with the teams trading buckets in the early going. The Hoosiers attempted to pull away with three-point shooting, led by guard Jordan Hulls. Hulls finished the game with 28 points and shot an astounding 7-9 from beyond the arc.

The Nittany Lions did not let Indiana pull away, keeping pace with strong performances by guards Tim Frazier and Jermaine Marshall. Frazier scored 21 points and added 7 assists, while Marshall scored 20.

The Hoosiers seemed to have the game out of reach towards the end, but the Nittany Lions kept fighting and cut the lead to two points on multiple occasions with less than one minute left in regulation.

Penn State was forced to foul in the waning moments, but Hulls and Matt Roth converted their opportunities at the free throw line, sealing the win for the Hoosiers.

After the game, Tim Frazier expressed his disappointment with the outcome, even though the opponent was highly ranked.

“We’re not satisfied,” noted Frazier. “Bottom line is we could have won.”

One notable absence for the Lions throughout the game was freshman guard Trey Lewis. After getting close to thirty minutes of playing time per game every night, he only played one minute against Purdue, and none at all Sunday against Indiana. When asked about his absence, Chambers offered a brief explanation about the lack of playing time.

“Trey’s got to earn it back," Chambers said. "Freshmen go through ups and downs.”

Penn State travels to Nebraska on Wednesday to take on the Cornhuskers. The Nittany Lions then return to the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday at 4 p.m. to host Minnesota. Tune in for coverage of that game live on ComRadio.

Artyom Kneuer is a sophomore majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact him, email aak5215@psu.edu.