Newton completes IU comeback against Penn St.

The hump must have been too big. Too tall. Too steep. \nFor the first 33 minutes of Saturday's Big Ten home opener against Penn State, IU stared deficits and horrid shooting in the face. \nThe Hoosiers erased a double-digit lead, played skin-tight defense and made a season's worth of furious comebacks. But they didn't come all the way back. They couldn't get over the hump.\nEnter Jeff Newton. He plowed right through. \nThe 6-foot-9 junior forward scored 10 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked three shots in IU's 61-54 victory. And for a stretch in the second half, he took over. \n"Newton was good," IU coach Mike Davis said. "He was the best he's been."\nThis is why: \nAfter Penn State raced to a nine-point edge early in the second half, Newton sank a pair of free throws to pull IU within five. Two possessions later, Newton rolled from the low post to the bucket and laid in an ally-oop pass from Jared Jeffries to trim the Lion lead to one point, the closest IU had been since 2-2. \nNewton went to the bench with four fouls with 13:05 remaining, then replaced Jeffries, who picked up his fourth foul with 10:02 left. \nPlaying in Jeffries' slot with IU needing a boost, Newton responded. \nNewton's three-point play with 6:47 left pulled IU within two, at 47-45. On Penn State's subsequent possession, Newton swatted Tyler Smith's jumper. Newton returned inside, got fouled and drained two more free throws to tie the game. \nNewton then rebounded a miss from Penn State's Kevin Fellows, got fouled and hit another free throw giving IU its first lead since a 2-0 edge 45 seconds into the game. \nFrom there, IU forced five turnovers and hit clutch free throws to notch the victory.\n"I knew if we came in and got a couple stops, we would just roll from there," Newton said. "I was the guy to trigger it. I knew I would trigger it if we got some stops."\nOh, Odle\nFor the second consecutive game, Jarrad Odle sparked the IU offense. \nAfter scoring 16 points and grabbing 15 rebounds -- both career highs -- at Northwestern Wednesday, Odle tallied nine points -- all in the first half -- and 11 rebounds Saturday in his first start of the season. \nThe 6-8 forward, playing in the absence of injured center George Leach, scored IU's first five points, then put in back-to-back buckets, capping IU's 14-2 first-half run. \nOdle didn't get off the bench in the Dec. 29 loss to Butler but is off to a fast start in Big Ten play, averaging 12.5 points and 13 rebounds per game. \nGiven the chance, he said he can maintain that production.\n"I was frustrated at myself a little bit (before the Big Ten season started)," Odle said. "I don't think I was doing the things coach Davis wanted. The last couple games, I've stayed within the offense, and hopefully, I'll keep improving."\nFree-throw frenzy\nIU connected on 32 of 38 free throws Saturday, just four days after going 0-of-2 from the line at Northwestern. \nThe 32 makes and 38 attempts were both season highs. The previous highs were 20 makes (twice) and 27 attempts (three times).\nIU was 25-of-29 in the second half, going 5-of-24 (20.8 percent) from the field in that same stretch. \nAll but four of the Hoosiers' final 25 points came via free throws. \nThe most impressive performance might have come from Newton, who began the season shooting only 53 percent from the line for his career. Newton went 6-of-7 Saturday, making him 24-of-32 (75 percent) on the season. \nOnly Tom Coverdale (93 percent) is shooting a higher percentage. \nThe problem, he said, was mental. \n"I always made free throws, even in high school," Newton said. "I just took the crowd out of the equation. I don't get (nervous) anymore. It's something you get used to."\nFirst things first\nDane Fife's free throw with 3:50 left Saturday marked his first points of the Big Ten season. He was averaging nearly 10 points per game during the pre-conference schedule.\nFife missed all seven of his shots from the field at Northwestern and did not score. The senior guard misfired on all three of his shots against Penn State but connected on five of six free throws in the final 3:50 to seal IU's victory. \nKyle Hornsby's bucket in the first half produced his first career field goal against Penn State. Hornsby entered the game having missed all five of his shots -- he was 1-of-2 from the free throw line -- against the Nittany Lions. After Saturday's 1-for-7 performance, Hornsby is now 1-of-12 from the field against Penn State and 0-of-10 from the three-point line.