Hoosier Daily: December 5 - What They're Saying About Penn State
Today's Hoosier Daily focuses on what everyone is saying about Indiana's conference victory over Penn State.
Tweets of the Day
Penn State Headlines
Jeff Rice, IndyStar: Buzzer Breakdown: 3 reasons why IU basketball beat Penn State 64-62
Despite a brutal shooting start (1-of-11 from the floor), Indiana stayed in the game until its offense began to pick up thanks to some strong team and individual defense. The Hoosiers aggressively fought through screens and went after Penn State’s perimeter handoffs, forcing the Nittany Lions to take contested outside shots or putting them on the free-throw line, where Penn State made only 4 of 14 first-half attempts. After allowing nine points in the first four minutes, Indiana surrendered only 24 over the next 22 minutes, including only two points over the opening six minutes of the second half, to a Penn State team that had been scoring 69.7 points per game.
One of the top freshman in the country coming out of high school, Romeo Langford has been just as good as advertised so far this season.
The small forward is leading the Hoosiers in scoring thus far, averaging 18 points per game on just under 49 percent shooting from the floor.
On Tuesday, Langford continued to show why he is projected to be a lottery pick in next year’s NBA Draft.
Langford finished with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting, to go along with six rebounds in a winning effort.
The New Albany, Indiana native was only shooting 23% from beyond the three-point arc heading into the contest, but he connected on a couple of threes as part of a 13-6 Indiana run to give the visitors a 31-26 late in the opening half.
Zain Pyarali, The Hoosier Network: Three takeaways from Indiana basketball’s 64-62 win at Penn State
While Romeo Langford breezed through the first half with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, the Penn State defense slowed his roll in the second half. Langford was held to just two points on three shot attempts in the final 20 minutes, but his freshman counterpart Robert Phinisee played big.
After coming off two dismal performances against Duke and Northwestern where the freshman point guard accounted for more turnovers (6) than points (5) and assists (3), Phinisee shined bright in his first Big Ten road game.
The Lafayette, Ind. native was held scoreless for the first 19:58 of the game, but a layup at the end of the first half sparked a 12-point night on 4-of-9 shooting. More importantly, he finished with five assists; five rebounds and only had one turnover.
“Really just being aggressive,” Phinisee said. “Coach wanted me to get downhill and get to the basket to open up things and I just made plays.”
Other Headlines:
Phillip Steinmetz, Indiana Daily Student: Men's soccer set for the College Cup
Jordan Guskey, IndyStar: Coming Jan. 19, 14 hours of hoops and third annual Basketball Day Indiana
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