Indiana holds off Penn St.
STATE COLLEGE) — Indiana coach Tom Crean's young club got more valuable experience in crunch time.
The Hoosiers let an early 11-point lead slip away before holding off Penn State behind timely rebounding and clutch shooting from Verdell Jones III and Devan Dumes for a 67-61 win Thursday night.
The victory snapped a 13-game conference road losing streak dating to March 2008, and was a confidence boost for a team that starts two freshmen and two sophomores, including Jones.
"It's tremendous for us," said Dumes, a senior reserve who had 10 of his 15 points in the second half. "It was all about closing for us today."
The Hoosiers (9-9, 3-3 Big Ten) led by nine with 6:20 left but couldn't shake Penn State and guard Talor Battle, who had a game-high 22 despite being hobbled by a left ankle twisted earlier in the week.
Andrew Ott's layup got Penn State (8-10, 0-6) within three, but Jones nailed a 3 with a defender in his face to regain the lead at 63-57 with 2:58 left after Christian Watford grabbed an offensive rebound.
Watford, a freshman forward, grabbed another key offensive board on Indiana's next possession that led to another jumper by Jones to push the lead back to eight with 1:41 left.
Watford finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, and Jones scored 14 points.
Penn State's season is headed in the opposite direction. The 0-6 Big Ten start is the worst in coach Ed DeChellis' seven years in Happy Valley.
It's not what DeChellis expected after the Nittany Lions won the NIT last season.
Hard-luck Penn State outrebounded Indiana on the offensive glass 18-9, yet it was Watford who got the biggest offensive boards of the game. Penn State has lost seven games this year by six points or less, and five by three or less.
"We didn't come up with rebounds at critical times, and that's the story of the season," DeChellis said. "We just haven't been able to get the big rebound when we need it."
