There was still half a second on the clock, but Penn State's Talor Battle and his teammates were all smiles and the fans were ready to rush the court.
Led by a balanced offense, the Penn State men's basketball team upset No. 18 Indiana, 68-64, in overtime Sunday afternoon in the Bryce Jordan Center in the final regular season game. With the win, the Nittany Lions (15-15, 7-11 Big Ten) clinched the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten tournament, which starts Thursday. Penn State plays No. 10-seed Illinois in the first round.
It is the second rushing of the court this season and the second win over a ranked conference foe, as the Lions beat then-No. 8 Michigan State on Feb. 2. Penn State has also won five straight home games against Big Ten teams, and the seven conference wins are the most under Penn State coach Ed DeChellis.
The Lions won despite playing their second straight game without junior forward Jamelle Cornley, who will miss the rest of the season because of chronic left knee problem.
Cornley's injury meant Penn State started four freshmen.
But the freshmen played like veterans against the Hoosiers (25-6, 14-4), which had won four in a row against Penn State. The Lions' three leading scorers were freshmen, with D.J. Jackson notching a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jeff Brooks also chipped in a career-high 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Battle added 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Penn State led for a good portion of regulation, as the Lions' ability to hit 3-pointers early in the game and good perimeter defense allowed them to lead for 17:58, a time that spanned both the first and second half. At one stretch, Penn State held Indiana without a field goal for 7:58.
But then Indiana's freshman guard Eric Gordon took control -- temporarily.
Gordon scored 12 straight points in 2:21 to bring the Hoosiers from down six to up eight. Gordon finished with a game-high 26 points.
But the Lions were able to force overtime by outscoring Indiana 22-14 the rest of regulation.
The savior of the game late was Jackson, who forced regulation by completing a three-point play by hitting a layup and the free throw after he was fouled by D.J. White, who finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Jackson then ended regulation by coming down with the defensive rebound after the Hoosiers had a chance to win the game.
In overtime, the Lions survived by playing good defense on the perimeter, as Indiana missed 6-of-7 3-point attempts, including four misses by Gordon, who shot just 8-for-24 from the field. Jackson was also clutch in the extra period, as his tip-in with 1:43 left put Penn State up for good.
And Gordon's last missed 3 and subsequent rebound by Battle with less than a second left put Battle on the foul line, where he sank the first free throw to put the Lions up four, which cued the Penn State bench to begin raising fists in triumph.
