IU ends season undefeated at Assembly Hall

Hoosier fans inside Assembly Hall on Saturday night maintained their usual set of chants and cheers for IU coach Kelvin Sampson, senior guards Errek Suhr and Rod Wilmont, and the rest of the standards usually yelled at home games.\nBy the end of the night, though, the crowd added a new chant to its repertoire – one that hasn’t been yelled in Assembly Hall for 13 years: “undefeated.”\nThe Hoosiers defeated Penn State 94-63 Saturday night in Assembly Hall and put the finishing touches on an unblemished 15-0 home record this season. It marks the first time since the 1993-94 season that the Hoosiers have gone undefeated at home. \nSampson said after the game that the Hoosiers had to knock down their outside shots against Penn State in order to be successful. IU hit 17 3-pointers in the contest, which tied the school record for most in a game.\n“When a team’s in a zone, you have to be able to shoot 3s,” Sampson said. “If you spend all your time trying to swing the ball and pound it inside against the zone, for us, it would be going against our grain. ... This team’s strength is 3-point shooting.”\nJunior guard A.J. Ratliff – who was one of five Hoosiers to score in double-figures Saturday night – contributed the most to IU’s 3-point barrage. Ratliff nailed 6-of-7 3-pointers in the contest and scored 18 points altogether. The Hoosiers nailed 17-of-32 3-pointers in the contest – a 53.1 percent tab – including a 9-for-16 mark in the first half.\nBoth teams got off to a slow start to open the game with the Hoosiers clinging to a small lead. But back-to-back 3-pointers from Wilmont with just over four minutes left in the first half put IU’s lead into double digits. The Hoosiers led 43-31 at the half.\nThe Nittany Lions came out in the second half with a 10-2 run to cut IU’s lead to eight, but the Hoosiers responded, and in a big way. IU went on a 15-4 run to increase its lead to 21, effectively putting the game out of reach. \nSampson said one of the keys to success for the Hoosiers Saturday night was their large amount of passing.\n“We passed the ball well. We had 32 baskets, but we also had 23 assists,” he said. “When you have 23 assists that means you’re getting your shots off passes. I thought our kids really executed well on offense.” \nWhile Ratliff helped the Hoosiers rack up their highest point total of the season, D.J. White anchored the defense. The junior forward racked up four blocks in the contest, including a one-handed rejection on a Geary Claxton dunk attempt. The Hoosiers also out-rebounded the Nittany Lions 32-23, including 13-8 on the offensive end.\n“Another key tonight is we kept these kids rested,” Sampson said. “I think the more minutes they play in the second half, they wear down a little bit. Tonight they were fresh.”\nWith the win, the Hoosiers secured themselves the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. IU’s tournament play begins at 9:10 p.m. Friday at the United Center in Chicago. The Hoosiers will meet the winner of the Penn State-Illinois matchup.