Juwan Morgan, Hoosiers bench lead IU basketball past Penn State

BLOOMINGTON – Indiana backed up an impressive road win at Minnesota with a nail-biter at home Tuesday, seeing off Penn State 74-70 thanks to clutch late free throws.

Coach Archie Miller’s team is now above .500 in the Big Ten, and 10-7 overall. Here are three reasons:

Juwan Morgan gets his

It’s becoming a regular enough theme that perhaps it’s time to regard Morgan less as a scrapper, and more as a star.

His reputation was already well-earned. Morgan’s penchant for hustle plays and tough basketball was established over two seasons spent as a key reserve. But as a junior, he’s becoming much more.

► BOX SCORE: IU 74, Penn State 70

Already this team’s leading scorer and rebounder — and most-efficient scorer — he is rapidly becoming one of the Big Ten’s leading men. He outdueled Jordan Murphy this weekend at Minnesota, finishing with 20 points and 12 rebounds, and he followed that with 21 and 11 against the Nittany Lions. He has five double-doubles in the Hoosiers’ last nine games.

Sections of Tuesday’s game felt like a one-on-one battle between Morgan and Lamar Stevens, who to his credit finished with 20 and seven. Stevens was very good. Morgan was better. It’s time to start asking how many players in the Big Ten honestly rise above Indiana’s 6-7 junior forward.

Trimming turnovers

The Hoosiers are already a noticeably better outfit taking care of the ball than they were a year ago. Tuesday night was a standout performance.

Indiana committed just nine turnovers against Penn State, avoiding the self-destructive giveaways that got the Hoosiers into so much trouble at Wisconsin and at Minnesota. Moreover, only seven were individual turnovers, the kind that often lead to easy baskets at the other end of the floor.

Strong ball security cued an impressive defensive effort, as Penn State managed just 0.97 points per possession. The Nittany Lions got solid individual performances from players like Stevens and Tony Carr. But they couldn’t establish a consistent rhythm against the Hoosiers, and it showed late.

Bench bonus

Carr and Stevens are Penn State’s headliners, and they looked like it Tuesday, finishing with a combined 48 points. But Indiana was the deeper team, outscoring the Nittany Lions 25-1 in bench points. As statistical gaps go, that was a big one.

Twenty-three of those 25 came from Devonte Green and Collin Hartman, the former hitting clutch free throws late and the latter getting easy points around the basket with Morgan drawing extra attention.

With De’Ron Davis still laid up by injury, Indiana’s already slim margin for error is all but nonexistent now. The Hoosiers need, as Miller has said many times in recent days, “all hands on deck.” That’s what Tuesday looked like.

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

INDIANA 74, PENN ST. 70

PENN ST. (12-6) — Watkins 4-4 2-3 10, Stevens 9-15 0-3 20, Carr 9-20 9-10 28, Bostick 2-6 0-0 5, Garner 2-4 0-0 6, J.Moore 0-1 0-0 0, Pierce 0-0 0-0 0, Wheeler 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 26-52 12-18 70.

INDIANA (10-7) — Smith 1-3 0-0 2, Morgan 8-16 3-4 21, McRoberts 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 3-13 3-3 10, Newkirk 4-8 7-8 16, Hartman 4-9 1-1 10, McSwain 1-2 0-2 2, Durham 0-2 0-0 0, Green 4-9 4-4 13. Totals 25-62 18-22 74.

Halftime—Indiana 35-31. 3-Point Goals—Penn St. 6-14 (Stevens 2-3, Garner 2-4, Bostick 1-2, Carr 1-4, Wheeler 0-1), Indiana 6-27 (Morgan 2-5, Green 1-3, Newkirk 1-4, Hartman 1-6, Johnson 1-7, Durham 0-1, McSwain 0-1). Fouled Out—McRoberts. Rebounds—Penn St. 30 (Watkins 12), Indiana 34 (Morgan 11). Assists—Penn St. 8 (Carr 3), Indiana 14 (Newkirk 4). Total Fouls—Penn St. 20, Indiana 20.

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