Assists pass IU to victory

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- For one of the few times this season, the Hoosier offense was rather efficient, as IU won another Big Ten road game, 75-56, over Penn State Wednesday. The Hoosiers (12-9, 6-4 Big Ten) had 16 assists and turned it over a season-low six times.\n"We did a good job of passing the ball, and for us to have 16 assists, it may be our season high," IU coach Mike Davis said. "I think (sophomore guard) Marshall (Strickland) did a great job of running the offense for us."\nThe 16 assists tied the season high set last Sunday in the double overtime loss against Iowa. It's only the fifth time this year that IU had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio. The Hoosiers were able to spread the floor, which is something the team stressed in practice this past week.\n"We had out wings open in the corners, and it gave me a lot of space at the point to operate," Strickland said. "I saw the lanes. My wings, they were really getting up and down the floor for me, and I was able to see the floor and make plays."\nIn addition to finding the open man, the Hoosiers took care of the basketball and had less than 10 turnovers in a game for only the third time this year. In their previous 14 games with double-digit assists, the Hoosiers also had double-digit turnovers.\n"We got open, and we converted on a lot of shots," sophomore guard Bracey Wright said. "We made a lot of shots. We shot the ball pretty well tonight. I don't think we were getting a lot of wide open lay-ups, but we got a lot of passes in their zone in the middle, and we got a lot of transition things going, so it worked for us tonight."\nWhile IU was able to take care of the basketball, Penn State did not. \nThe Nittany Lions (9-11, 3-6) turned the ball over 16 times -- 10 of those in the second half. Davis said the key was not letting them reverse the basketball.\nThe defense allowed the Hoosiers to score 27 points off Penn State turnovers.\n"I think our focus and intensity was there on defense, especially at the beginning of the game," Strickland said. "We really locked in, and we got a couple of stops in a row, and that's they way we want to start every game."\nPenn State sophomore forward Aaron Johnson came off the bench to score 11 points in the first half, 28 overall. Wright said in the second half he was told to double down in the post every time.\n"Whenever they caught the ball, just leave my man wherever he is on the floor and go double," Wright said. "I think we caused a lot of havoc with that because they made a lot of errant passes, and they put the ball of the floor not expecting a double-team, and we were able to swipe at it. We got a lot of good swipes and lot of points in transition."\nDavis was proud of the way his team executed on offense and was able to do the things they had stressed in practice. He said it was good to have only six turnovers.\n"We really emphasized cutting, screening and taking care of the ball," Davis said. "Our guys did a wonderful job tonight"