IU loses battle of boards to Penn State to end season

INDIANAPOLIS — Different venue, same story.

Similar to IU’s loss to Penn State in December at Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers could not contain the Nittany Lion frontcourt in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Those problems on the interior ended in a 61-55 defeat for the Hoosiers at Conseco
Fieldhouse.

Penn State forward Jeff Brooks, who had a career-high 23 points against the Hoosiers in the earlier matchup, paced Penn State with 15 points Thursday. Brooks was complemented down low with strong play from forward Andrew Jones, who added 12 points of his own.

The Nittany Lions did the most harm on the glass, as they out-rebounded IU 34-to-23 (including 16-to-7 in the second half).

“The game plan on Brooks we did not follow as well, and we had a couple of tough match-ups tonight — the (D.J.) Jackson match-up and the Brooks match-up,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “And that’s why we had to mix defenses more. It got us in rotation.

“There were a couple of times we just didn’t block out very well. When everything is all said and done, the rebounding I think was the difference in the game. And a lot of that, like I said, is because of the rotations.”

Most of the focus for IU entering the matchup was on guard Talor Battle and for good reason. The senior was recently named All-Big Ten First Team after leading Penn State in scoring with 20.4 points per game.  

That plan worked for IU, as tough defense — in particular senior guard Jeremiah Rivers — forced Battle into contested shots from the get-go. He was 1-of-6 shooting from the field at halftime and ended with only 13 total points.

“I just wanted him to not have confidence around me,” Rivers said. “Every time he was around me, I didn’t want him to feel like he could just score, and I don’t think he did. I just kept hacking at the ball, getting in him, and was able to do a pretty good job on him.”

IU did what it could to minimize the damage in the first 20 minutes. It went into halftime with the same amount of rebounds as the Nittany Lions and had a two-point advantage in the paint.

The second half, though, brought a different result.

Brooks was fed the ball on a majority of offensive possessions for Penn State, and he didn’t disappoint. The senior scored at will in the second half, finishing 5-of-7 from the field in that period.  

Some of that can be traced back to poor defending from freshman forward Will Sheehey, who was often found on Brooks down the stretch.

“Our bigs got into foul trouble early, and that hurt us on the block,” Sheehey said. “There were times, myself personally, I just played horrible defense.”

IU sophomore forward Christian Watford, who finished with 15 points on the night, said the loss was based on a lack of toughness on the glass.

“We had a lot of mental lapses on the rebounding end,” Watford said. “A couple times we didn’t hit guys and a couple times tipped a couple balls out and got long rebounds. It was a battle all game, and they unfortunately won the rebounds.”