Cody Zeller scored 18 points and No. 11 Indiana rallied for a 73-54 victory over Penn State on Sunday to break a three-game losing streak. The contest was played hours after the Nittany Lions learned of the death of former football coach Joe Paterno.
The team was told of Paterno's death on the short bus ride from the hotel to Assembly Hall. Penn State officials scrambled to get black strips attached to the players' blue road jerseys.
Indiana officials decided, less than an hour before tipoff, to hold a moment of silence in honor of Paterno, the coach who won an NCAA-record 409 games and was fired in November after child sex-abuse charges were filed against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.
"It's very sad on a variety of levels. Our heart goes out to his family and the entire Penn State community," Indiana athletic director Fred Glass said.
For a half, it looked like Penn State (10-11, 2-6 Big Ten) would ride its defense to a third straight victory in Bloomington.
But the Hoosiers (16-4, 4-4 in the conference) scored the first four points of the second half to take a 31-29 lead and never trailed again. IU tied the score with a putback on the opening possession, and took the lead when Verdell Jones scored on a layup after a Penn State turnover. The Hoosiers followed that with consecutive 3-pointers from Christian Watford and a third from Jordan Hulls to make it 40-35. When Will Sheehey scored on a layup and Matt Roth hit a three, the Hoosiers' lead was 45-35 with 13:04 to go. Indiana extended the lead to as much as 71-52 late in the second half. Hulls scored all 14 of his points in the second half.
Tim Frazier had 21 points and Nick Colella added 11 for Penn State, which was coming off an upset of No. 22 Illinois.
Penn State used a 9-3 run to go up 13-10 and held the lead for most of the half, thanks to IU’s continued poor 41percent shooting.
There was a skirmish in the closing seconds in front of the Hoosiers' bench. Sheehey drew his second technical of the game and was ejected.
IU goes back on the road to face a tough Wisconsin squad Thursday night in Madison.
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