Penn State players wore black bands on their uniforms and before the tip-off between Penn State and Indiana on Sunday, there was a moment of silence in Assembly Hall for former Nittany Lion football coach Joe Paterno.
Members of the Penn State team found out about the passing of the legendary coach on the team’s bus ride to the game, just hours before tip-off.
On the court, the Hoosiers used a strong second half to down the Lions, 73-54.
After the game, coach Patrick Chambers told reporters about Paterno and his relationship with basketball.
“He would always tell me a story about how he covered [Basketball Hall of Famer Bob] Cousy,” Chambers said. “He just wanted basketball to be successful, really wanted to give us what we needed to be able to compete in the Big Ten on a daily basis, in recruiting, in games, facilities, any amenities, he was all for it. I know that hasn’t been the perception, but that’s not true.”
The Lions (10-11, 2-6 Big Ten) were without redshirt junior Billy Oliver for the second straight game as the forward has been sidelined with an undisclosed illness.
Penn State owned a two-point lead at halftime, but the Lions shot an ice-cold 22.7 percent in the second half. Meanwhile, Indiana (16-4, 4-4) hit 65 percent of their field goals after the break.
The Hoosiers got 18 points from Cody Zeller and used a 22-8 run to pull away from the Lions in the win.
“It was very important that we establish that we’re going to be a second half defensive team with communication as good away from our bench and we come down and take care of the ball,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said to reporters after the game. “The No. 1 thing that had to happen was to take care of the ball; the No. 1 thing on defense was to really control the looks that they got.”
Tim Frazier led Penn State with 21 points, but the junior guard had just one assist. The only other Lion joining Frazier in double-digits in the scoring column was junior Nick Coella, who came off the bench with 11 points.
With less than 10 seconds remaining, the teams got in a shoving match after Matt Glover fouled the Hoosier’s Christian Watford, who was attempting a jumper. The incident occurred right in front of the Hoosiers’ bench and some players started pushing each other after Glover’s foul.
The result of the scuffle resulted in technical fouls on Penn State’s Ross Travis and Indiana’s Will Sheehey.
