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Penn State upsets Indiana in overtime

Mar 9, 2008 - 11:06 PM STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania (Ticker) -- David Jackson and Penn State made sure that Indiana did not clinch the second seed for the Big Ten tournament on their home floor.

Jackson converted a conventional three-point play to send the game into overtime, then gave the Nittany Lions the lead for good in the extra session as Penn State upset the 17th-ranked Hoosiers, 68-64, in the Big Ten on Sunday.

An Indiana victory would have clinched the second seed for in the conference's tournament, making it a good bet to win a championship. In the 10 years the Big Ten has held a postseason tournament, the second seed has won five times.

Instead, the Hoosiers (24-6, 13-4 Big Ten) will be the third seed as Purdue defeated Michigan on Sunday. The third seed has never won the tournament, and has been eliminated in its first game six times, including last year when the Indiana fell 58-54 in overtime to sixth-seeded Illinois.

Penn State announced before the game that junior forward Jamelle Cornley, who was averaging 12.1 points, was out for the remainder of the season with a left knee injury.

"Cornley or no Cornley, a Big Ten road game is a Big Ten road game," Indiana interim coach Dan Dakich said. "They got themselves a great win."

Penn State (15-15, 7-11) led 36-30 early in the second half when Indiana's Eric Gordon took charge. After a pair of free throws from freshman Jordan Crawford, Gordon scored the next nine points, including a pair of 3-pointers to give the Hoosiers a 44-36 lead with 12:10 remaining.

The Nittany Lions would not go quietly, however. Trailing 58-55, Jackson converted a three-point play with 23 seconds left to knot the score. Gordon missed a fadeaway jumper with four seconds left as the game went into overtime.

"I'm real proud of our kids," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "They've been resilient all year, taken some hits. They've tried to stay the course and get better as a team."

Danny Morrissey opened the extra session with a 3-pointer to put Penn State ahead. D.J. White followed with a free throw then a putback to tie the score at 61-61 with three minutes left.

Jackson responded with a tip-in with 1:43 remaining to give the Nittany Lions a lead they would not relinquish.

"I was telling Talor (Battle) earlier, every time somebody shoots, as a rebounder you've got to think it's going to miss," Jackson said. "I just tried to get a hand on it and keep it alive."

The freshman Battle and Stanley Pringle combined to make five free throws down the stretch and a 3-pointer by Gordon with five seconds left was off the mark to seal the win for Penn State.

Gordon led all scorers with 26 points, while White added 20 and 12 rebounds for Indiana, which shot 38 percent (22-of-58) from the field.

Jackson paced Penn State with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jeff Brooks added 12 points and Battle finished with 10 for the Nittany Lions, who shot 37 percent (25-of-67) from the field.

Indiana held a 44-39 edge on the boards.

"One of our things going into this game was to make sure we absolutely dominated the backboard, and we didn't do that, obviously," Dakich said. "We just didn't do a good job rebounding."

Indiana was also missing a key player in forward Jamarcus Ellis, who didn't make the trip due to disciplinary reasons.