Penn State (4-4, 0-2 Big Ten) hosted the Indiana Hoosiers (7-2, 2-0 Big Ten) on Tuesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.

The Nittany Lions struggled mightily on offense throughout the night, shooting 23.1 percent from beyond the arc and just 42.3 percent from the free-throw line. Still, they were able to close the gap to just two points with 2.3 seconds to play.

Penn State couldn’t get a shot off on its last possession, dropping its second Big Ten game of the season.

How It Happened

Lamar Stevens hit the first two baskets of the night to put Penn State out in front 4-0 early on. By the time the first media timeout was called with 15:30 remaining in the first half, the Nittany Lions were up 9-0.

At the 12:02 mark, Penn State led 10-4 on just 4-11 shooting, while the Hoosiers were shooting 1-11 from the field. 1-8 shooting from the charity stripe certainly didn’t help Pat Chambers’ squad, though. 

Indiana took its first lead after freshman phenom Romeo Langford converted an and-one opportunity, giving the visitors a 13-10 advantage. Romeo Langford started to heat up, hitting a three, before Clifton Moore converted an and-one of his own to give the Hoosiers a 24-19 lead with about six minutes to play in the half.

The Nittany Lions trailed 34-30 at the half after Langford showed exactly why he was such a highly-touted recruit. He led all scorers with 15 points in the first half, while the Hoosiers’ second-leading scorer had just 6 points. Stevens led the Nittany Lions with 8 points and seven rebounds. 

Indiana went on a 7-0 run early in the second half to give the Hoosiers a 41-32 lead. Phinisee extended the Hoosiers’ lead to 46-32 before Rasir Bolton hit a three point play the old-fashioned way. 

With 11:08 remaining, the Nittany Lions trailed 50-40 after Myles Dread started to get some scoring going with five points. Fellow freshman Myreon Jones started chipping in as well, hitting a three before converting a layup through contact to bring Penn State to within seven.

Rob Phinisee hit two free throws for the Hoosiers to give them a 59-52 lead with five minutes remaining before hitting a layup on the next possession. Freshman Rasir Bolton hit a three to bring the Nittany Lions within eight with about three minutes to play before making his way to the line and hitting both. 

Josh Reaves missed both free throws on the next possession, bringing Penn State to 10-24 from the line. Bolton would bring the Nittany Lions within four points with 1:11 to play after hitting a midrange jumper. 

Bolton would come up big again with just 22 seconds left, hitting a high-difficulty shot on a drive to make it 64-62 in favor of the Hoosiers. Unfortunately for Penn State, with just 2.3 seconds left it could not get a shot off from an inbounds play. The Nittany Lions were handed their second conference loss of the season as Indiana tallied for scorers in double-digits. 

Takeaways

• The Hoosiers were effective in the pick-and-roll game defensively. When the screener rolled to the basket, there was almost always a well-positioned defender guarding the basket. This cohesive defense seemed to almost entirely neutralize John Harrar in the first half. 
• To a degree, Pat Chambers’ squad just wasn’t hitting shots. They went 11-32 from the field and just 11-26 from the line. At points, it was hard to watch.
• Indiana’s Romeo Langford is a lot of fun to watch. The No. 5 recruit out of high school has great body control when he’s driving and can hit jumpers from all over the court. 

What’s Next

Penn State will play host to Colgate on December 8 at 2 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center. You can catch the action on BTN Plus.