Column: Hulls regains touch against Penn State

There’s just something about Penn State that brings out the best in Jordan Hulls.

Coming into Monday night’s match-up at University Park, Pa., Hulls’ career average against the Nittany Lions was 15.5 points per game, including last season where he averaged 20.6 PPG in three games against the Nittany Lions.

Monday night, Hulls picked up right where he left off as the Hoosiers routed PSU 74-51.

Five minutes into the game, Hulls snapped for five points in 12 seconds by making two free throws and a 3-pointer. He would finish the half with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting (2-of-3 from downtown).

For the game, Hulls posted 14 points, two assists, two rebounds and two turnovers in 29 minutes of action, but it was his spark in the beginning that led IU to a huge 44-27 halftime lead.

Consider this: Christian Watford, who scored 13 points in the first half, and Jordan Hulls almost outscored Penn State in the first half all by themselves, 27-23.

Playing Penn State, the team that Hulls has torched throughout his career, could not have come soon enough for him.

Last time out against Iowa, the senior from Bloomington could not buy a bucket and went scoreless in 22 minutes by going 0-of-10 from the field and 0-of-4 from downtown.

From the get-go against Penn State, Hulls looked confident in his shot and the results followed.

He didn’t look gun-shy or afraid of shooting the ball at any point, which should be the case for the guy who entered Monday ranked second in Big Ten in both three-point field goal percentage (51.4 percent) and average 3-pointers made per game (2.6).

On a team with a lot of mouths to feed, Hulls is a facilitator who isn’t afraid to take — and make — open shots.

When he is open, he fires away. When he isn’t, he moves the ball and finds the open man, while not turning the ball over.

One play during the Penn State game exemplified this characteristic to me perfectly.

With four minutes left in the game and the Hoosiers winning 65-49, Hulls split a double team at the top of the key and drove to the free-throw line for what would have been a wide-open look.

Instead of shooting, Hulls jumped into the air, whipped his body halfway around to his left and found an even more wide-open Will Sheehey, who drilled an easy 3-pointer to put IU up by 19.

Vision like that — even when utilized in a blowout — is special.

In December, Hulls was one of five Big Ten players named for the 2013 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award watch list and games like Monday night’s game illustrate what Hulls brings to IU.

Hulls is a pure scorer who handles the ball and doesn’t make mistakes. He is the verbal leader of a team that communicates better than some Marine battalions. Most importantly, he is a Hoosier through and through.

If they made a 2013 remake of the movie “Hoosiers,” the main character’s name wouldn’t be Jimmy Chitwood, it would be Jordy Hulls.

And I don’t doubt that in that remake, the opponent would be Penn State, because there’s something about playing PSU that always makes Jordan Hulls stand out as the star.

­— mdnorman@indiana.edu