Penn State Falls to No. 9 Hoosiers on Road

Cornley scores 19 but Indiana's late rally spoils the upset.

Jan. 20, 2008

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Eric Gordon scored 25 points and D.J. White added 22, including nine during a 14-4 second-half run that carried No. 9 Indiana to an 81-65 win over Penn State on Sunday.

The Hoosiers (16-1, 5-0 Big Ten) won their 27th straight home game and stretched their winning streak this season to 12 games, their longest in 15 years.

Penn State (10-7, 2-3), which lost leading scorer and rebounder Geary Claxton with a season-ending knee injury against Wisconsin on Tuesday, came out strong, stayed with the Hoosiers most of the game and led 52-51 before a 3-pointer by Gordon started Indiana's big run.

White had Indiana's next five points and assisted on another basket by Jamarcus Ellis, and the Hoosiers began pulling away for good.

Two free throws by Talor Battle were the only points by the Nittany Lions in the next 4 minutes, and two free throws by Gordon, a 3-pointer by Armon Bassett and a layup by Gordon pushed Indiana's lead to 72-58.

Penn State, which has never won in 15 games at Assembly Hall, never came closer than 12 points the rest of the way, and Indiana took its biggest lead at 81-60 in the closing seconds.

Bassett added 17 points and Ellis finished with 12 for the Hoosiers. Battle, a freshman, had a career-high 20 points and Jamelle Cornley added 19 for Penn State. Freshman Jeff Brooks, who started in place of Claxton, had six points.

Despite the loss of Claxton, who was second in the Big Ten in scoring and rebounding, the Nittany Lions stayed with Indiana in the first half, even after a 10-0 run gave the Hoosiers an early 12-6 lead.

Four of Penn State's first five field goals were 3-pointers, then a basket and two free throws by Cornley and a 3-pointer by Stanley Pringle tied the game for the first time at 22. After a turnover by Indiana, Pringle was fouled on a layup and converted the three-point play with a free throw for a 25-22 lead.

There were two more ties and three lead changes over the final 5 minutes of the first half.

Gordon's fourth 3-pointer tied the game at 32, then Ellis stole the ball, was fouled and hit both three throws to put the Hoosiers back in front. After a turnover by Penn State, Lance Stemler hit a 3-pointer for the Hoosiers before Battle's basket in the final seconds made it 37-34 at the break.

A 3-pointer by Battle gave Penn State its final lead at 52-51, and a basket by Cornley tied it for the final time at 54 before two straight baskets by White put Indiana ahead to stay.