Although not the most thrilling game of the season, the 72-49 win for the Hoosiers came with some proud moments. Freshman Yogi Ferrell finished with a career-high 15. His shooting was at its best since joining Indiana at 85.7 percent in the field. Will Sheehey got out of his funk and finally showed up to make an impact. Shooting 100 percent in 3-point attempts, he ended with 12 points.

Jan 23 2013, Bloomington, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions guard D.J. Newbill (2) has his shot blocked by Indiana Hoosiers forward Jeremy Hollowell (33) at Assembly Hall. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Maurice Creek even made a 12-minute appearance, his first since the Butler loss, something fans were more than happy to see. Instead of his typical #3, he was wearing #22. According to some tweets, including his own, this was in honor of a friend who passed away earlier this year.

But there is always something to smile about in IU athletics. At half time IU Women’s Basketball player Aulani Sinclair made an appearance to signify her 1,000 career points, becoming the 23^rd player on IU’s all-time scoring list. And for the second year in a row, the IU Crimson all-girl cheerleading squad brought their NCAA National Championship trophy to center court.

The Hoosiers started off the second half with two three’s followed by a steal from Jordan Hulls throwing an alley-oop to Victor Oladipo. And it didn’t stop there. Earlier I mentioned the need to stay consistent after half time, and the Hoosiers didn’t disappoint by shooting a nice 58.8 percent in the second half.

Although Cody Zeller ended the night without a field goal (the first time in his college career, which might be something Penn State can brag about), he contributed every ounce of energy to the defensive side. With eight rebounds and three blocks, he paid attention to what his Indiana teammates needed most.

A little criticism on the free throws though. Did I mention they’re free? We shot our lowest of the season at 56.8 percent, so hopefully that’s just a one time thing we needed to get out of our system.

Overall defense? Good. Offense? Good.  A more productive night for the Hoosiers than what we have been seeing recently, so I hope we can all be happy with that.

Oh, let’s not forget about our other competition across the country either. I might as well mention the four upsets to top 20 teams tonight, including 1 Duke’s loss to Miami and 9 Butler’s loss to Lasalle. This, my friends, is a good season of college basketball.

Indiana will host the Michigan State Spartans on Sunday, January 27^th at 1:00pm. Go Hoosiers!

Jan 7, 2013; University Park, PA, USA; Indiana Hoosiers players huddle prior to the start of the game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Bryce Jordan Center. Indiana defeated Penn State 74-51. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

No. 7 Indiana should have no trouble in tonight’s game against the Nittany Lions. But then again, who knows after the past couple of weeks.

Already playing them this season on their home court with a 74-51 win, we should be more than prepared to repeat our streak. Pomoroy, with a predicted 85-55 Hoosier landslide, thinks so too.

Penn State (8-10, 0-6) has struggled so far in their Big Ten matchups, the only team in the conference without a win. Their team doesn’t come without some strong players though. Junior Jermaine Marshall and sophomore D.J. Newbill are mentionable contributors to the team and are continuing to improve. But unfortunately, they’re just no match for the Hoosiers.

We do need to maintain consistency throughout the second half though, something we have failed to do too many times recently. And tonight we should be able to allow the bench mob some extra play time, especially for guys like Elston and Perea. All in all, hopefully we can use this game to focus on some improvements before our schedule heats up with Michigan State, Michigan, and Ohio State.

The Hoosiers tip off at 7:00pm tonight at Assembly Hall and are being covered by the Big Ten Network.