Roth ignites second-half attack at Penn State

Penn State held IU junior guard Jordan Hulls to just one 3-pointer in the final 19 minutes of the game after he had already knocked down six.

Unfortunately for Penn State, the team forgot about Matt Roth.

The senior guard made five 3-pointers in the second half and finished with a season-high of 22 points Sunday to lead IU (15-1, 3-1) to an 88-82 win at Penn State (9-8, 1-3).

“The only thing we wanted to do was find him early,” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “That was a big thing to Verdell (Jones) and Jordan (Hulls) was that when he’s in, let’s get him established early. Even if he’s not shooting it and making it, let’s get him established where he’s touching it.”

But IU didn’t exactly do that in the first half.

While Roth was able to catch fire in the second half, it wasn’t until the final seconds of the first half that he got on the board.

Roth was fouled by PSU junior guard Nick Colella during his first 3-point attempt of the day, which sent him to the line for three. Roth knocked down all three free-throws to give IU a five-point lead going into the half.

“It’s always good to get to the free-throw line to get things going,” Roth said. “It was a situation where I had to make a play to try and get us a basket or get to the foul line so we could set our defense for the last play.”

With IU clinging to a 51-46 lead in the second half, Roth struck for the first time.

Four minutes later, Roth struck again.

Then he struck again, another time and once more for good measure. In less than five minutes, Roth knocked down four 3-pointers to give the Hoosiers an 11-point lead with 4:27 to play.

“It’s huge to get Matt involved in the game, because he can open the floor up so much once he gets a couple 3’s,” Hulls said. “He was able to hit a lot tonight so that was really good.

“I was just trying to penetrate and drive and find him on the 3’s because he’s always ready to shoot. He played huge for us tonight, both offensively and defensively.”

But following Roth’s 3-point attack, the IU offense went cold. The Hoosiers scored just one point in the next 2:36 and saw their double digit lead all but evaporate.

IU needed Roth to step up in a different way.

With the Nittany Lions creeping as close as two points in the final minutes, he would need to knock down free throws if IU was to break a nearly two-year conference road losing streak.

Roth did exactly that.

Just as he did to close out the first half, Roth made the free ones to close out the game. Roth’s four free throws in the final 27 seconds helped IU fend off the Nittany Lions.

The 22 points (5-of-6) for Roth comes two and a half weeks after his four 3-pointers helped IU to an 89-47 against UMBC. But unlike that night, Roth was relied on to lead IU in a close game against a Penn State team that had a chance to win in the final minute.

Sunday afternoon was a zone Roth said he hopes he can continue to channel in his final season at IU.

“It was just a testament to how well we moved the ball,” Roth said. “We had a lot of inside-out stuff to get us started. That’s always the best shot to get when you’re shooting 3’s, is when you’re coming from the inside.

“They went a little zone on us, and I thought we attacked it well as well as in transition. We did a great job of running the floor and getting lost in the game.”