Victory comes from behind the arc for Hoosiers

Last week, during an Indianapolis radio station broadcast, junior guard Jordan Hulls joked he and senior guard Matt Roth have had their fair share of shooting contests inside Assembly Hall, with each having come out on top about the same number of times.

On Sunday afternoon, the two sharpshooters took their act to University Park, Pa., and showed the rest of the Big Ten why IU is the best 3-point shooting team in the nation by percentage.

Hulls and Roth combined to go 12-of-15 with 3-pointers Sunday against Penn State (9-8, 1-3) as No. 12 IU (15-1, 3-1) notched its third road win of the season in beating  the Nittany Lions 88-82.

IU had two-thirds of its made field goals from behind the arc, and the 16-of-24 3-point field goal performance is one short of a school record.

“It gets really hard to back off those guys,” IU Coach Tom Crean said of Hulls and Roth. “I’m really happy for Matt, and I’m happy for Jordan.”

After making just one field goal against Michigan on Thursday night, Hulls found his stroke in the first half, making 5-of-6

3-pointers with his only miss coming on a desperation heave at the halftime buzzer.

The Nittany Lions led 8-7 early in the first half before the Hoosiers made their next seven 3-point field goals with Hulls knocking down four of those.

All seven of Hulls’ made field goals came from behind the arc as he set a career-high of 28 points.

“I was just finding the open spot and my teammates were finding me, and I was able to knock them down,” Hulls said. “Matt was able to knock them down. It was just a good shooting night for us.”

Freshman forward Cody Zeller and junior forward Christian Watford were coming off a combined 16-of-21 performance against Michigan but were slowed down by a 2-3 Penn State zone defense that wanted to take away the Hoosiers’ touches in the paint.

In doing so, the Nittany Lions paid for it on the perimeter as the Hoosiers pushed their 3-point field goal percentage to 47.6.

Heading into Sunday’s game, Penn State had allowed 17 more 3-pointers than any other Big Ten team, a situation the Hoosiers exploited all afternoon long.

“We played pretty well offensively,” Crean said. “Our guys found the open man, and that’s a lot easier said than done, especially with the length and the pressure that Penn State puts on you.”

The 3-point weapon was critical in staving off the Nittany Lions in the second half.

Penn State cut the lead to 56-53 with 10:14 to play, and after a Crean timeout, the Hoosiers made their next six 3-pointers, four of which came from Roth.

Sophomore guard Victor Oladipo was just 2-of-8 from the field but once again took the assignment of the opposing team’s leading scorer and held Penn State’s Tim Frazier to 7-of-23 shooting as the Big Ten’s fourth leading scorer fouled out with 1:34  remaining.

Overcoming some late turnovers in the game’s waning minutes, Hulls and Roth were 8-of-8 from the foul line in the final 33 seconds as IU earned its first Big Ten road win since winning at Penn State on Jan. 21, 2010.

“They really, really had to battle today,” Crean said. “As my old coach I worked for at Alma College said, ‘This win will help you get some other wins down the road,’ and I think he’s right.