The two teams that have proven incapable of playing a boring game in Rec Hall continued their nail-biting tradition last night. Once again, Indiana escaped Penn State's home court with a narrow victory.

The Hoosiers (11-6, 3-2 Big Ten), trailing much of the second half, outplayed the Lions (10-3, 2-2) in the game's final three minutes and outlasted a pair of potential game-tying shots before eking out a 71-69 win.

"A lot of circumstances came together to make a very poor ending to the game," said Lion center John Amaechi, who finished with a game-high 27 points and 12 rebounds.

The most critical of those circumstances came with 15.2 seconds remaining in the contest, with the Hoosiers up 70-67 and Lion point guard Dan Earl on the free-throw line. After being fouled on a three-point shot, Earl swished his first two tries before Indiana Coach Bob Knight called a timeout.

Earl came back to the line a few moments later and sent his last attempt dead-straight but just short. The Hoosiers collected the board and, after Brian Evans hit one-of-two free throws with 11.1 seconds left, Lion forward Rahsaan Carlton rimmed a potentially tying 10-footer from the baseline. Carlton got his own rebound, but could not get another shot off before the clock ran out.

The Lions, who trailed the entire first half, clamored back and led by as many as six in the second before slowly surrendering their advantage. After a Greg Bartram free throw with 3:46 left gave Penn State a 67-64 lead, the Lions gave up seven points (two of them on nearly uncontested layups), committed three fouls and a turnover and didn't make a field goal.

Despite Penn State's late struggles, Knight had kind words for the way the Lions and his own team played.

"They played the game exactly like they should play it," Knight said. "But we played pretty good defense on possessions at the end. To the real credit of our kids, we didn't crack."

Early on, the Hoosiers didn't seem worried about cracking, as they built a quick lead and held it for nearly 28 minutes after the opening tip. On the strength of Steve Hart's two quick treys, Indiana held a 10-3 edge at the 16:53 mark. Amaechi kept it close, at one point scoring 10 consecutive points for the Lions, but the Hoosiers went into the half with a 34-27 advantage.

"I think the first half, we were rushing our shots, we looked really uptight," Lion Coach Bruce Parkhill said. "I just wasn't happy with the way we played in the first half."

A Brian Evans layup with 15:57 left in the second stanza stretched the lead to nine, but the Lions whittled it down from there. Penn State, helped by a technical foul call on Knight, rattled off eight straight points as part of a 14-2 run and took a 48-47 lead at the 12:22 mark.

With the Hoosier frontcourt in foul trouble, the Lions built a six-point lead, going up 55-49 on a pair of Amaechi free throws with 10:34 left. But as the clock wore down, the Lions' own foul situation began to take its toll. Penn State committed its 10th foul with 9:58 left and the Hoosiers, despite shooting only 55.2 percent from the line for the game, hit 11-of-17 free throws in the late stages of the game.

The Hoosiers were led by senior forward and All-America candidate Alan Henderson, who accounted for 22 points and 12 boards, while Evans accounted for 17 points and Hart added 12. Penn State forward Glenn Sekunda, who fouled out with 10 points, was the only other Lion in double f igures.

Note:

-- Knight, colorfully gruff as ever in the postgame press conference, joined Michigan Coach Steve Fisher in proclaiming the Nittany Lion football team No. 1. Knight added that he'd personally received a visit from Penn State Football Coach Joe Paterno before the game.

"He didn't go and visit my team," Knight added. "He's rooting for us to get our asses beat."