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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

sports

Foul trouble limits team's success

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- It happened to Jeff Newton again.\nThe senior forward suffered early foul trouble, more time spent on the bench and had little impact for the IU men's basketball team that desperately needed him to have any chance of recovery in the 74-66 loss to Penn State.\nInstead, Newton played a mere 23 minutes, 15 less than Saturday's game against Minnesota and just two more than last Saturday's overtime win over Iowa. With 12 seconds left in the game and the Nittany Lions having a solid hold on the game, Newton picked up his fifth foul and was sent to the bench for good.\n"Anytime a player like that gets in foul trouble, it hurts what they do offensively," Penn State coach Jerry Dunn said. "He's their go-to guy, and I think he's come of the poise for their team. It's huge when he is not in there."\nDunn and his team, however, were experiencing an unexpected surprise from one of their big men, sophomore forward Jan Jagla. Jagla, who finished with a team-high 25 points, has been unimpressive as of late.\nThe last time he lead the Nittany Lions in points was the second game of the season, when Penn State lost to the Penn Quakers. He scored 16 points in the 62-37 loss. He's averaging just over eight points per game this season, and hadn't scored 20 points in any game this season.\nJagla, a Germany native, also picked up the most rebounds when he tied freshman forward Aaron Johnson with eight rebounds in 32 minutes of play.\n"He had a good game," senior guard Tom Coverdale said. "We have to figure out a way to stop people who are on their game any given night and we didn't do that."

WHO'S TO BLAME?\nFollowing the loss to Penn State, freshman guard Bracey Wright was asked why he thought the Hoosiers have performed below expected standards. Wright alluded that the team's attitude was a big factor.\n"Some people want to play, some people don't. That's as far as it goes," Wright said. "I can't say much about it because it's tough to speak about what happens as a team when you can only speak for yourself.\n"Everyone has to come to play. Everyone has to want to play. It's been a tough season for us; hopefully we can get it back on the right track."

QUICK TURNAROUND\nWith the loss to Penn State and an 8-8 conference record, the Hoosiers will be seeded No. 6 in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament.\nIn an odd twist of fate, that would pit IU against the Nittany Lions, who have picked up the No.11 spot.\nThe tournament, which will take place in Chicago at the United Center, starts this Thursday at noon. The game between the Hoosiers and Penn State will be the final game of the day, which is expected to tip-off at 5:05 p.m.\n"It depends on which team comes out to play," Newton said about which team had the better chance. "The team that came out tonight was Penn State."\nThe Hoosiers need a solid performance to settle questions about making the NCAA Tournament. Following the recent victories against Iowa and Minnesota, the team was said to have secured a bid, but with the Penn State loss, its invitation could get lost in the mail.\nThe team talked about the importance of a good performance in the Big Ten Tournament to improve its chances.\n"(We're) very disappointed. We have to try and win the tournament coming up," Newton said. "We don't know (about our tournament chances). We just have to come out and try to win the Big Ten tournament. That's what we have to do"

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