For one of the few times in the game, the crowd at the Bryce Jordan Center erupted.
Aaron Johnson had just hit a three-pointer early in the second half against Indiana to pull the Nittany Lions within nine, swinging momentum for the first time in the game.
But, in what has been a microcosm of the Lions' season, the Hoosiers went right down the floor after the trey and stole all of that momentum back as George Leach slammed home a feed from Ryan Tapak.
Penn State was never able to recover, as sophomore guard Bracey Wright took the game over, knocking down 11 of his 25 points in the last 12 minutes, despite a solid defensive performance from freshman Marlon Smith.
"It's just a feeling I get," Wright said. "Coming into someone else's house and taking it from them."
Wright was the catalyst for the Hoosiers' momentum, but more often than not, the visitors had it handed to them by a mistake-prone Lions side. Penn State turned the ball over 16 times to Indiana's six, but that wasn't even the most glaring statistic -- points off turnovers: Indiana 27, Penn State 0.
"We're trying to force things at times," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "Making careless decisions, unforced turnovers, driving with nowhere really to go."
The Hoosiers were credited with 10 steals spread out among eight players. Apart from Johnson and his career-high 28 points and 15 rebounds, the entire team struggled offensively. Take out Johnson's 9-for-15 shooting and the rest of the Lions were just 11-for-44.
Despite having a height advantage in most of the matchups throughout the night, the Lions were not able to capitalize, creating turnovers instead of scoring opportunities.
"They played a big lineup and we knew we could take it away," Indiana coach Mike Davis said, emphasizing the play of A.J. Moye, guarding Lions big man Jan Jagla.
"Moye did a great job of playing him hard."
After falling behind 27-8 to start the game, the Lions mounted a few small runs to try and close the gap.
However, every time they threatened to close within single digits, the Hoosiers came up with a key steal or outside shot to sink hopes of a comeback.
Penn State trailed by 12 at the break and never got closer than nine in the second half when Johnson buried his second three-pointer of the game.
DeChellis had trouble coming up with reasons for his team's offensive woes, but was dismayed that the team had not shown improvement since having a week off to recharge after the loss to Purdue.
"I think we're in mud," DeChellis said. "We haven't gotten any better this past week."
