“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.’..”