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“WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — David Teague got Purdue started with four 3-pointers in the first half, and Carl Landry dominated the second half to lead the Boilermakers past Penn State 77-50 Wednesday.

“Teague finished with a career-high 25 points, including five 3-pointers, and seven rebounds, while Landry had 15 of his 24 points in the second half. Purdue (6-15, 2-8) ended a two-game losing streak by winning for just the second time in 11 games.

“Penn State was led by Danny Morrissey, who scored all 15 of his points on 3-pointers. …”

Purdue presents chance to end losing skid:

“If there was ever a time for the Penn State men’s basketball team to break out of its conference road-losing funk, tonight may be it.

“It will be a battle of Big Ten Conference bottom-dwellers when the Nittany Lions (7-14, 1-7 Big Ten) take on Purdue (5-15, 1-8) at 8 p.m. at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. The Lions have possibly their best chance to end their 28-game road conference-losing streak against the struggling Boilermakers, with road contests against Northwestern (10-11, 3-6), Michigan (12-11, 3-6) and Michigan State (15-4, 6-2) remaining.

“‘If we come out and play with intensity, get the scouting report down with what the coaches have to say, you never know what can happen,’ Penn State guard Mike Walker said. ‘Especially a game like this, they’re kind of down with us in the conference, it’s a good chance for us to get a road win.’

“The Lions should be well rested after coach Ed DeChellis gave the team a rare weekend off.

“‘I didn’t even know what to do with myself,’ Walker said. ‘It was the first time we had two days off since the beginning of the year.’ …”

With mad ups, long arms, Claxton born to play:

“It seems appropriate that his doctor detected abnormally long arms when Geary Claxton was in his mother’s womb.

“It’s interesting that he’d jump off his bunk bed and dunk on his mini basketball rim when he was 4 years old.

“It’s hard to believe Connecticut, Syracuse and Villanova demanded that he attend a prep school for a year before playing for their Division I programs.

“It’s fortunate for Penn State, though, that Claxton, the high-flying forward with an 85-inch wingspan, realized he was good enough to play at the collegiate level immediately after high school graduation.

“‘I guess [other schools] wanted to polish my game up and improve on some areas, but I didn’t agree with that,’ Claxton said. ‘I wanted to go to a school that would give me a chance right away.’

“The West Haven, Conn., native deserved that chance after Penn State assistant coach James Johnson watched the swingman lead Hill Regional Career High School to victory against the top team in the state. Claxton recorded 43 points and left a pretty good impression on the Penn State coaching staff. …”

The Exponent – sports:

“Coach Gene Keady’s recovery from the flu is over, but what he has seen from the Purdue basketball team has sickened him.

“Keady is still angry following the Boilers disappointing 67-61 loss at Northwestern on Saturday, a game in which he said the players had no energy.

“‘I’m not real happy with anybody,’ Keady said. ‘I take a lot of the blame right now ’cause we’re failing, but its not all my fault we’re failing.

“‘There’s a lot of reasons for it, and there’s a lot of reasons we won, so it’s always a two-way street.’

“The Boilers (5-15, 1-8 Big Ten) have the unenviable position of hosting a game between the bottom two teams in the conference tonight as Purdue plays Penn State….”

Centre Daily Times | 02/03/2005 | Nittany Lions’ road losing streak continues:

“From CDT staff and wire reports

“BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The streak isn’t ready to die yet.

“Another inspired road performance by Penn State resulted in another road loss Wednesday, as Indiana hung on to defeat the Nittany Lions 68-63.

“Geary Claxton led Penn State (7-14, 1-7 Big Ten) with 16 points and Travis Parker added 15 as the Nittany Lions battled back from an early deficit and took a rare second-half lead before dropping their 28th consecutive Big Ten road game.

“A long 3-pointer from Mike Walker and two free throws from Claxton got Penn State within three, 66-63, with 1:16 left. Claxton’s runner on the ensuing possession fell just short and Indiana’s Marshall Strickland drained two free throws to ice the game.

“Penn State freshman guard Danny Morrissey left the game with a knee injury three minutes before the half and did not return. He is scheduled to have an MRI today. The five Nittany Lion starters played every minute of the second half until Ben Luber fouled out in the final seconds.

“Walker had 11 points, including three 3-pointers, and Aaron Johnson finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds after being held scoreless in the first half. Hoosiers freshman sensation D.J. White took only three shots, hitting two, and finished with six points, while fellow freshman A.J. Ratliff had 11 of his 13 in the first half. …”

Journal Gazette | 02/03/2005 | IU all right without star:

“BLOOMINGTON – Suddenly, Terrell Owens doesn’t have the only ankle of concern for this coming Sunday.

“Suddenly, an Indiana basketball team that has been living on the edge most of the season finds itself looking down two loaded barrels of adversity.

“Junior guard Bracey Wright, the team’s leading scorer the past three seasons, was helped off the floor with 15:30 remaining in Indiana’s 68-63 victory over Penn State on Wednesday night at Assembly Hall.

“The status of Wright, who reportedly sprained an ankle and yet still managed to lead IU with 17 points, remains uncertain as Indiana (10-9, 5-3 in the Big Ten) has four days before it travels to top-ranked and 22-0 Illinois. …”

ChicagoSports.com – Right score, wrong landing by Wright:

“BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — With a trip scheduled Sunday to top-ranked Illinois, Indiana needed some good news. But Wednesday night’s 68-63 victory over Penn State was a painful one.

“The Hoosiers’ best player, Bracey Wright, sprained his left ankle with 15 minutes 30 seconds to play, had to be helped to the locker room and didn’t return.

“Whether the junior guard plays against the Illini or how effective he will be remains to be seen.

“‘I’m looking forward to the game,’ Wright said in a statement. ‘When you get in a groove it makes it harder to accept an injury, but I’m looking forward to Sunday. I’ve been in the gym all week shooting because that’s the only way to break out of a slump.’

“His slump notwithstanding, Wright was averaging 18.6 points. Despite missing most of the second half he was the game’s high scorer with 17 points. He shot 7-for-13, made both of his foul shots and contributed five rebounds and three assists….”

No cigar:

“The Penn State men’s basketball team couldn’t get the monkey off its back last night as the Nittany Lions (7-14, 1-7 Big Ten) lost their 28th straight Big Ten road game. This time in Bloomington, falling 68-63 to the Indiana Hoosiers (10-9, 5-3).

The Lions fell for the 12th straight time at Indiana, but this was the closest game at Assembly Hall in Penn State history. Penn State has also lost 11 of its last 13 games overall.

“The Lions seemed to shake off the beating Wisconsin delivered on Saturday and played one of their better defensive games of the season. Penn State’s forwards held Indiana’s highly touted freshman center D.J. White to just six points on 2-for-3 shooting. The Lions double-teamed the freshman-of-the-year candidate all night, but the defensive strategy came back to burn them late in the game.

“With a little under two minutes to go, Indiana fed the ball into White — who was immediately doubled — and he kicked it out to little-used senior guard Ryan Tapak, who drilled his first 3-pointer of the season to put the Hoosiers up seven.

“‘The kid [Tapak] hit a big shot for them,’ Penn State coach Ed Dechellis said on the Penn State Radio Network. ‘Sometimes you just have to pick your poision. We were trying to play the percentages.’…”

IU takes a fall, gets up to win:

“BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Indiana University basketball team might have won one and lost one Wednesday night at Assembly Hall.

“Indiana won the game, holding on for a 68-63 victory over Penn State. But in doing so, the Hoosiers might have lost Bracey Wright, the Big Ten’s second-leading scorer, for an indefinite period.

“Wright suffered a left ankle sprain with 15:30 remaining in the game after hitting a 17-foot jumper. On the way down, Wright’s left ankle landed on the foot of Penn State’s Aaron Johnson. Wright immediately rolled into a ball, clutching the ankle. He had to be carried off the court by two teammates and didn’t return.

X-rays taken after the game were negative.

“Wright, who still led the team in scoring with 17 points, was not made available to the media after the game. The media relations department distributed a quote sheet with some of Wright’s postgame comments.

“‘I just came down on Aaron Johnson’s foot wrong and sprained my ankle,’ Wright said. ‘What made it worse was that I was just getting into a rhythm offensively. This was a must-win game. We needed this one and we got it.’ …”

Coach, the name is Tapak:

“BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Penn State coach Ed DeChellis prefaced his comments by saying he didn’t want to be rude.

But the truth was that he really didn’t know who No. 34 was for Indiana that hit a big 3-pointer with 2:16 remaining in the Hoosiers’ 68-63 victory over his Nittany Lions.

“‘I thought the big shot was by 34,’ DeChellis said. ‘I don’t mean to be rude, but he didn’t make the scouting report. He made a big shot. That was a really key basket for them at that point and time in the game. I thought we were doing a decent job of guarding them.’

“The IU player was senior walk-on guard Ryan Tapak, who hadn’t played since the Jan. 5 conference opener against Northwestern, and hadn’t made a 3-pointer this season. He had missed his first nine attempts. His last 3-pointer was against Illinois in last year’s Big Ten tournament.

“Tapak just smiled when informed he hadn’t made the Penn State scouting report.

“‘I didn’t have a reason to be on the scouting report,’ Tapak said. ‘It had been awhile since I had played. And it’s nice after nine misses to finally hit one. It was just something at the end of the shot clock where (Robert) Vaden hit me with a pass, and I really didn’t have time to think about it. That’s probably why it went in.

“‘Usually if I have my feet set and I have time to think about it, that’s when I miss.’..”