City of Basketball Love

Marley Paul (@MarleyPaul22)
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UNIVERSITY PARK — As the buzzer sounded in the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday a celebration ensued for the first time in a long time. Brandon Taylor chest-bumped the Nittany Lion mascot at mid court then proceeded to walk towards the roaring student section right beside him.

His teammates Shep Garner and Devin Foster would meet him there shortly as the group of players relished in the moment of obtaining that elusive win over a Top 25 opponent, edging No. 22 Indiana (19-5, 9-2) 68-63.

Led by 24 points from Brandon Taylor, tying his Big Ten career-high he set last Saturday versus Michigan, Penn State (12-12, 3-7 Big Ten) is back at .500 on the season and has ended an 11-game losing streak against ranked opponents since upending No. 22 Ohio State by two in February 2014.

“We did not answer the bell on Brandon Taylor the way that we needed to,” said Indiana coach Tom Crean, who likened Taylor to Nigel Hayes, a unanimous preseason All-Big Ten choice. “We lost a little concentration on how we wanted to defend him, especially with other people. So, it’s very hard for anybody to guard a player of that size and that strength one-on-one.”

Down three points with 10:24 left in the game, Taylor connected on a layup then a 3-pointer to put Penn State up 50-48 with 8:55 remaining. Devin Foster added two more to the lead, banking a left-handed driving hook shot a minute later en route to a career-high 13 points.

Another 3 would fall from Taylor with 6:24 left and the forward eyed the student section down his entire way back down the court after giving his team a 55-50 lead and the late-game composure they’ve sorely missed all season.

The Hoosiers would score five unanswered to things up, however, capped by a Nick Zeisloft 3, his fourth of the game, but first of the half.

None other than Taylor stepped up again, drilling a 3 form the left corner that put Penn State up 58-56 with 3:17 to play. Payton Banks added three more, marking three straight field goals from 3-point distance of the Nittany Lions, who finished 8 of 24 from deep.

Indiana’s Thomas Bryant answered with a conventional 3-point play on the other end, tying the game at 61 with 1:13 on the clock, but the Hoosiers, watched Julian Moore return the favor, finishing in the paint over Bryant off a inbound play.

With a 64-61 lead after Moore’s free throw, four free throws from Shep Garner iced the Nittany Lions’ fifth win over a ranked opponent under coach Pat Chambers.

“Throughout the season we’ve taken a lot of punches, and not giving up is the reason why we come out this game with a W,” Taylor said. “We could of put our heads down and ran away, but we stuck our necks out there and we continue to work … . We knew that there was going to be a game where we were going to defend and play Penn State basketball for 40 minutes.”

On Saturday an early forcing turnovers was advantageous for Penn State, as Indiana committed 15 — nine in as many minutes to open the game. Taylor said the plan was to speed the Hoosier’s offense and make them uncomfortable, though Crean saw things differently. 

“I’ll watch the film, I saw a different game,” Crean said. “I saw us have some unforced turnovers but he might be right, he’s the winner, they get to se what they see and i’ll watch the film and see what we have to get better at but I thought a couple times we tried to make some plays that weren’t there.”

In recent games, these two teams have matched up fairly even, the last three games decided by seven points in total — two three-point Indiana wins bookending a 66-65 Penn State advantage.

“The players and the coaches have had long nights in the BJC,” Taylor added. “So it’s a great feeling that that hard work pays off. We’re just excited for this win but we’re not going to get too happy, we’re going to get right back to work and try stringing some together.