Hoosiers Fall at Penn State

Saturday, February 6

University Park, PA

8:00 PM

Indiana University

19-5, 9-2

Penn State

12-12, 3-8

Indiana

Penn State

2/6/2016 10:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Tori Ziege | Twitter
IUHoosiers.com

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – For the fourth meeting in a row, Indiana-Penn State came down to the final series of plays.

They didn't fall Indiana's way.

Fifteen Hoosier turnovers led to 19 points for Penn State (12-12, 3-8), a stat that would come back to haunt Indiana (19-5, 9-2) in a game that saw 14 lead changes and 13 ties, ending in a score of 68-63.

Though IU cleaned up its turnovers to just four in the second half, eight giveaways in the first eight minutes put the Hoosiers in a hole from which they would struggle to climb out of throughout the evening.

"I think the turnovers certainly to start the game hurt us," head coach Tom Crean said. "We made some turnovers that we just can't make."

Indiana was also challenged to get the ball through the hoop, shooting a season-low 36 percent from the field.

Of the Hoosiers' 17 made baskets, nine were 3-pointers, and four came from senior guard Nick Zeisloft, who finished with a team-high 14 points. Senior guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell followed with 13 points, five assists and three rebounds.

"Missing shots is going to happen, but you can't ever let that affect you on the defensive end or as a whole," Zeisloft said. "You have to find a way win the game regardless of what happens."

After sitting through much of the first half with two early fouls, freshman center Thomas Bryant helped Indiana keep the game close down the stretch. He scored six points in the final 3:44 and finished with 10 points overall, rounding out the Hoosiers in double digits.

It was 24 points by Penn State's Brandon Taylor, however, that would lead all scorers and create a thorn in the Hoosiers' side.

Though freshman forward OG Anunoby provided valuable defensive minutes to start the second period, silencing Taylor while he was on the floor, the Nittany Lion senior forward was eventually able to break loose for a run of his own, scoring 11 points in the final 9:34.

Crean compared Taylor's abilities to that of Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes, who also found great success against Indiana, scoring 31 points in the Hoosiers' other conference loss.

"We didn't answer the bell on Brandon Taylor like we needed to," Crean said. "You've got to do your work early on a player like that. It's very hard for anybody to guard a player of that size and that strength one-on-one, but I thought OG did a really good job of trying to battle there."

Crean said he was disappointed that missed shots affected his team's concentration defensively. Having won four Big Ten road games this season, including a dominant victory at Michigan on Tuesday, he said he expected those experiences to show up and keep his players focused in a tight game.

But he knows they're capable of it.

"It's not like we haven't done it, can't do it," he said. "We just didn't do as good a job tonight."