Some people are going to call that an ugly win. While IU squeaked out a six-point win in Happy Valley, two months from now, nobody will remember anything but a W.
It's IU's first Big Ten road win in nearly two years, a streak that is just as bad as it sounds. But for IU, it's yet another hurdle overcome in the 2011-12 campaign.
So what else did we learn today?
1. Jordan Hulls can still take over
Okay, you might be thinking, when was this ever in doubt? The reality is, Hulls was the only IU starter not averaging double digit points in Big Ten play. Need I remind you that Hulls was coming off a 3-point effort against Michigan on Thursday night?
Yes, Hulls has had games where he's provided a clutch three when IU has needed it. But he hadn't had a performance like that all season.
Penn State came in as one of the worst in the country defending the three and IU as the most accurate so obviously the matchup was in Hulls' favor. Credit a combination of bad perimeter defense along with Hulls' ability to make three's look like free throws (which by the way, Hulls shot better from three-point range than at the line on Sunday).
Hulls may not have had the offensive numbers to this point that many have expected of him but Sunday was clear. You leave Hulls open, and he's as lethal a shooter as you'll find in college basketball.
2. So can Matt Roth
Everyone wondered who was going to step up in the absence of Will Sheehey. Would it be Remy Abell? Austin Etherington?
How about Roth.
The senior guard delivered his best performance since the Ohio State game in 2008 when he tied IU's single game record of nine three-pointers.
Simply put, Roth could not miss. He scored 19 of IU's 46 second half points, including five three-pointers to match Hulls' first-half output. That's not too shabby for a kid that missed nearly a season and a half with injuries.
Nobody on the IU bench can take over a game like Roth. He is able to get lost in the game and provide a boost that few bench players in the country can provide.
Like Hulls, Roth was the benefactor of some poor perimeter defense. But hey, you've still got to make them, which Roth did and ultimately led IU to the win.
3. The Big Ten road is no picnic
On paper, today's game was arguably IU's easiest road matchup in conference play. Penn State was a team that lost games at home to Ole Miss and Lafayette. They were picked by many to finish dead last in the Big Ten.
But that didn't stop them from routing Purdue by 20 at home. Luckily for IU, that game happened to come right before they were set to take on the Nittany Lions. If not, that could've been IU on the opposite end of that 20-point beat down.
But IU should know as well as anyone that it's tough to go into somebody else's house and win.
Games at Iowa or at Nebraska should by no means be chalked up as automatic wins. Like Tom Crean said after today's game, there's a reason that the Big Ten is the best conference in college basketball this year.
Yes, they are games that IU should win and must win if they are worthy of a top-ten ranking. But even the elite teams don't worry about style points when it comes to winning conference games on the road. If Sunday was any indication for IU, style points on the road will be few and far between.
