Kirk Hinrich wasn’t hesitating.

He was taking open jumpers, driving toward the basket, doing everything he could to score. And finally, the shots started falling.

Hinrich finished with 27 points after a rough start, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 96-85, spoiling Randy Foye’s return from a knee injury Tuesday night.

“I felt like I was getting good looks, being aggressive,” Hinrich said. “I just wasn’t quite getting my legs underneath me on my shots and on my drives. So I was just trying to make a conscious effort of playing through fatigue and trying to get the job done.”

Hinrich found the energy — and the stroke — in time to lead the Bulls past a team that is showing signs of progress, even if it has the NBA’s worst record. The Timberwolves had won three of four, beating Phoenix along the way, and the lone loss during that stretch was by one to Boston.

Foye, sidelined all season by a a stress reaction in his left kneecap, scored 11 points in 17 minutes and felt fine afterward.

“I just wanted to get a win tonight,” Foye said.

Hinrich made sure that didn’t happen.

He hit a jumper midway through the third quarter to break a 49-49 tie after missing 11 of his first 12 shots. His layup two minutes later made it 57-55, and the Bulls started to pull away. He scored 12 points in the period as Chicago built a 71-62 lead.

Andres Nocioni added 18 points for Chicago, which had lost three of four, and the Bulls got a solid outing from Joakim Noah (10 points, 13 rebounds).

The Timberwolves never challenged in the fourth.

They hit just 1 of 14 3-pointers, and they couldn’t get much going inside during the second half. Ben Wallace contained Al Jefferson in the final two quarters, contributed four steals and finished with 12 rebounds, helping Chicago to a 48-36 edge on the glass.

“Ben Wallace’s defense on Al Jefferson was fantastic, especially in the second half,” interim coach Jim Boylan said. “Al is really talented and has improved the last couple of seasons. Ben is good down there in the post. That is a big part of our ability to win the game tonight.”

Jefferson scored 13 of his 20 points in the first half and grabbed 12 rebounds, after delivering a career-high 40 and pulling down 19 rebounds against New Jersey on Sunday. Rashad McCants got going in the second half, scoring all but two of his 16 points, and Marko Jaric scored 14.

It was a rough night for the Timberwolves, even though they welcomed back one of their best players and the Bulls were again missing their stars — guard Ben Gordon (sprained right wrist) and forward Luol Deng (left Achilles’ tendinitis).

“It’s going to take awhile,” Foye said. “I’m not expecting to come out and score 50 points, shut someone down. … Whatever time (coach Randy Wittman) gives me, I’m going to play as hard as I can.”

Foye entered the game with 4:16 left in the first quarter and missed his first two shots, but found his stroke early in the second. He scored seven points in the opening 1:45 of the period, hitting a 3-pointer, and although his minutes were limited, his knee appeared to be fine.

An NBA all-rookie team selection last season, Foye is a key figure as the Timberwolves rebuild following an offseason overhaul in which they sent Kevin Garnett to Boston. He averaged 10.1 points, 2.8 assists and 22.9 minutes while playing all 82 games last year.

Foye said he bruised the knee in summer league and continued to play on it, aggravating the condition. He appeared in three preseason games before shutting it down.

He initially expected to miss several weeks, but the injury was slow to heal. He started practicing on a limited basis on Jan. 7 and began participating in all drills about a week ago.

“They put me through a lot of conditioning workouts leading up to this, so I felt great,” Foye said. “The only thing is I felt a step behind. Certain times I felt as though I could blow past certain people, but I just didn’t. I wanted to set the offense up.”

While Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella pronounced the deal to acquire Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts dead, the Boston Globe reports there are still rumors of a potentional blockbuster trade between the Orioles and Cubs.

The Cubs are apparently listening to talk about a deal that would send Baltimore ace Erik Bedard and second baseman Brian Roberts to Chicago for a truckload of younger players/prospects. The Cubs are also entertaining the thought of dealing former Sox farmhand Matt Murton to San Diego.

It has become trendy to suggest that Tyrus Thomas is on his way out of town though the last thing Chicago Bulls GM John Paxson is going to do is give up on a player with Thomas’ potential just 1½ seasons after drafting him.

Thomas could be part of a package to bring in a front-line player, but there is no chance the Bulls would trade him just to get rid of him.

If there are any players on the team likely to be traded, it would be Chris Duhon and Viktor Khryapa, who are about to become free agents and may not be back next season. There might be a contending team that could use an extra point guard for the stretch run.

Columbus goalie Pascal Leclaire was perfect again on Thursday night. The Blue Jackets players skating in front of him were just as good.

Leclaire made 30 saves for his league-leading eighth shutout and Jared Boll scored in the Columbus Blue Jackets‘ 1-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.

Leclaire had to make a handful of tough saves, although the tight-checking Blue Jackets limited Chicago’s offensive space and chances.

“We played them strong 5-on-5, especially against their top line” of Patrick Kane, Robert Lang and Martin Havlat, Leclaire said. “We didn’t give them a lot of space all night.

“That’s why we’re in the playoff race right now,” he added. “The doughnut is a bonus.”

Boll scored his fifth goal of the season on a deflection in the second period, his first score in 15 games.

“We don’t give up very much,” Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock added. “Everyone one calls it defensive hockey, but what we did was check well. Other teams have to pay for what they get.”

Nikolai Khabibulin, Chicago’s highest-paid player, made his first start in six games. Khabibulin made 26 saves, but his personal losing streak reached eight games (0-7-1).

“Hopefully I’ll be able to build on this game, use this game as a positive,” Khabibulin said. “I was really hoping to play well tonight and I thought I did. I’m not very happy we didn’t get the win.”

Backup Patrick Lalime started the Blackhawks’ previous five contests and won four straight before Chicago lost 3-2 at San Jose on Tuesday. Khabibulin hasn’t won since Dec. 26.

Among Khabibulin’s nine saves in the scoreless first period was a point-blank stick stop on David Vyborny during a Columbus power play midway through the period.

Boll’s deflection at 7:20 of the second turned out to be the game’s only goal. Standing in the slot, he redirected Ole-Kristian Tollefsen’s shot from the left wing past Khabibulin on the stick side.

“To gain an inch in this league you’ve got to want it and want to work,” Chicago coach Denis Savard said. “You might get a cut. You might get bruised. So what?” Savard continued. “Last time I checked, you’re getting pretty good money to do it.

“And they don’t want to do it. It’s as simple as that.”

Leclaire wasn’t heavily tested in the second, but made saves on one-timers by Patrick Sharp from the slot early in the period and by Brent Seabrook from the left circle late in the frame.

During a delayed penalty call, Leclaire made a point-blank save on Adam Burish as 6:04 of the third. He then robbed Robert Lang with a right pad save from the edge of the crease with 8:03 left.

“We expect this every night from him,” Hitchcock said. “He gave us a chance to win and the guys up front played well for him.

 Kirk Hinrich surveyed the scene and made the call. This was his night to attack, to carry his team, and he delivered in a big way.

Hinrich scored a career-high 38 points, and the Chicago Bulls beat the Indiana Pacers 108-95 on Wednesday night even though their two best players were injured.

“I don’t know what to say,” Hinrich said. “I felt a responsibility to do that tonight. We just needed a win. There was definitely some desperation for this team.”

The Bulls learned earlier in the day that forward Luol Deng would miss one to three weeks because of his recurring left Achilles’ tendinitis. Then, they found out that leading scorer Ben Gordon would sit out with a sprained right wrist.

Even so, they had more than enough to beat the Pacers.

Hinrich, who hit 14 of 21 shots, scored 12 points in the fourth quarter and left to a loud ovation with 40 seconds left.

“You know, he took 21 shots; that might be the most he’s ever taken in a game,” Pacers guard Travis Diener said. “He could have taken 50, the way he was shooting it. I just thought he was more aggressive. He’s a great player.”

He had help, though.

Andres Nocioni added 24 points, including six during a 17-0 run in the second quarter that snapped a 29-all tie and put the Bulls ahead for good.

Rookie Joakim Noah added 14 points and a season-high 15 rebounds, and Thabo Sefolosha scored 14 points.

Danny Granger did all he could to keep Indiana in the game, scoring a career-high 33 points.

“My teammates were finding me and I was knocking them down, but I’d trade it all for a win,” he said.

The Pacers had whittled the lead to 79-77 on a basket by Shawne Williams and two free throws by Mike Dunleavy (10 points) 1:16 into the fourth. But the Bulls went on a 16-6 run that increased their lead to 95-83 with 5:19 left in the game.

Hinrich scored six points during that stretch and delivered a behind-the-back pass in transition to Noah for a dunk that drew a roar from the crowd.

“We got a good win today, but at the same time, we can’t get too happy,” said Noah, who played the entire fourth quarter. “Right now, we’re a team that’s trying to get into the playoffs. We want to be there. And in order to do that, we have to be consistent.”

They moved within a game of Indiana and idle New Jersey for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after absorbing two big blows before tipoff.

Gordon hurt his wrist during a 104-90 loss at Memphis on Monday and was unable to play against the Pacers. Deng’s condition has been bothering him for about a month, and he does not want to rush back.

“We’re going to try to be smart about it,” he said before the game. “I don’t want to come back and have to sit down again. Even if I feel good after one week, I’m really going to try to test it and see how good it feels before I start going again.”

Deng, second on the team at 17.9 points per game, missed three games before returning Jan. 13 at Atlanta. The problem flared up again during the fourth quarter against Golden State on Friday, and he sat out the following night against Detroit. He played 26 minutes at Memphis but sat out the fourth quarter because of the pain and the lopsided score.

The Bulls did just fine without Deng and Gordon, outscoring Indiana by 11 in the second quarter while building a 57-43 halftime lead and pulling away in the fourth.

“I had to make plays tonight, without (Gordon) and (Deng),” Hinrich said. “Those guys do a lot of stuff for us, attack for us on offense. I’m confident I can make plays.”

Octavio Dotel knows he’s joining a team that struggled last season. He also sees an opportunity to play in the World Series.

Dotel and the Chicago White Sox agreed Tuesday to an $11 million, two-year contract, bolstering a bullpen that ranked among the majors’ worst last season.

“I think they’ve got good starting pitchers, and they’ve got a great bullpen,” he said. “The chance to be in the World Series is the reason I signed with the White Sox.”

The 34-year-old right-hander spent last season with the Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves, but a shoulder injury limited him to 33 appearances and 30 2-3 innings. He went 2-1 with a 4.11 ERA and was dealt from Kansas City to Atlanta at the July 31 trade deadline.

Dotel had reconstructive elbow surgery in 2005 while with Oakland and pitched for the New York Yankees the following year. He has 82 career saves in nine major league seasons.

White Sox general manager Ken Williams said Dotel probably came back too quickly from the elbow surgery and added he passed an MRI and physical exams “with flying colors.”

Dotel added he’s 100 percent and feeling “better than before.”

“If you can assess that he’s going to be healthy and return back to his normal production level, then the money is secondary at that point and we focus on getting the team to be the best we can possibly be,” Williams said.

Dotel said Cleveland, San Francisco, both New York teams, Baltimore and Pittsburgh were interested in him. He’s joining a team that won 72 games, thanks in part to a bullpen that blew 23 save chances, had a 19-25 record and a 5.49 ERA. He’ll slot in behind closer Bobby Jenks along with Scott Linebrink.

“Kenny was the one who showed more interest in me,” Dotel said. “That’s the reason. He thinks I’m a great key for the bullpen in 2008, even though we have Linebrink and Jenks as the closer. I see help for me, too. When I come into the game, I know I’m going to have help.”

Upgrading the bullpen was a major goal for Williams, who signed Linebrink to a $19 million, four-year contract in November. Now, the White Sox have several right-handed setup men for Jenks, who had 41 and 40 saves, respectively, in the past two seasons.

“I’ll be OK to set up for Jenks,” said Dotel, who gets $5 million this year and $6 million in 2009. “He’s a great closer, one of the best in the league. It’ll be good for me. There are going to be some days he won’t be available, and I’ll be there.”

But his main job will be to set up Jenks.

“What we needed to do was make sure we had a bridge to get the ball to Bobby,” Williams said. “Now, I believe we’ve got multiple options — not just with Dotel but obviously Linebrink. I expect Matt Thornton to rebound and Mike MacDougal to rebound from disappointing years. We feel good about the quality. We feel good about the depth of our bullpen. We also feel good about the ability to not tax Bobby Jenks to the point where we wear him out.”

Dotel can earn an additional $500,000 in performance bonuses: $50,000 for finishing 40 games; $75,000 for finishing 45; $100,000 for finishing 50; $125,000 for finishing 55; and $150,000 for finishing 60.

Any bonuses earned this year would be added to his base salary in 2009.

Chicago also agreed to a $4.75 million, four-year contract with Cuban slugger Alexei Ramirez and designated pitcher David Aardsma for assignment.

The deal with Ramirez, who batted .335 with 20 homers and 68 RBIs last season in Cuba, had been in place for a month. An infielder and outfielder, he will receive a $500,000 signing bonus and be paid $950,000 this year and $1.1 million annually from 2009 to 2011.

Ramirez left Cuba in early September to join his wife and children in the Dominican Republic.

Aardsma, a right-hander, was 2-1 with a 6.40 ERA in 25 relief appearances with the White Sox last season

David Lighty scored 16 points and had a critical rebound and two free throws with 30 seconds left to help Ohio State avoid a late collapse in a 64-58 victory over Illinois on Tuesday night.

The Buckeyes (13-6, 4-2 Big Ten), who ended a three-game losing skid, led 55-40 with 6:26 left and seemed in control of the game before the Illini roared back to make things uncomfortable in the final minutes.

Illinois (9-11, 1-6) cut the lead to 61-58 on Brian Randle’s rebound with 33 seconds left. The Illini then fouled Ohio State center Kosta Koufos on the inbounds play, but he missed both shots.

Even though two Illinois players had the inside track on the rebound of Koufos’ second miss, Lighty raced between them and got there first and was fouled. He then hit both foul shots.

The Illini then missed their next shot and Koufos rebounded and was fouled, hitting another free throw to end the scoring.

Evan Turner added 14 points and Koufos had 12 for the Buckeyes, who grabbed their fifth consecutive win over the Illini, following five straight losses to them.

Ohio State was returning home after close losses at three difficult venues (Purdue, No. 11 Michigan State and No. 6 Tennessee).

Rodney Alexander scored a career-high 20 points for the Illini, who have lost seven of eight. Randle added 13 and Trent Meacham had 12 — all on 3-point shots.

The Illini were without leading scorer Shaun Pruitt, who came in averaging 12.9 points and 7.9 rebounds a game. Coach Bruce Weber said it was a “team matter” — he wouldn’t go beyond that — and said he hoped Pruitt would work hard in practice and return soon to the starting lineup.

The Buckeyes forged a 33-23 lead by halftime, hitting 62 percent of their shots from the field while the Illini were managing just 28 percent.

One play spoke volumes for Illinois. In the waning seconds of the half, Randle got behind Ohio State’s press and was all alone for a two-handed dunk, but he jammed it off the back of the rim and it caromed all the way behind him and out of bounds. While the crowd hooted and mocked him, he stood helplessly under the basket, staring in disbelief.

Meanwhile, the Buckeyes could do little wrong. Jon Diebler, who had missed his last 19 3-point shots in a miserable shooting year, came off the bench and made his first attempt. That gave the Buckeyes a 13-8 lead.

They built it to 20-10 with a 7-0 run featuring a Lighty 3-pointer, freshman Evan Turner’s stop-and-go layup and a dunk by Othello Hunter off an alley-oop assist pass from Lighty.

The game was held up for several minutes midway through the second half by a shot-clock malfunction.

Rudy Gay thinks the Memphis Grizzlies might finally be finding their identity.

For the second straight home game, Memphis jumped out to a big lead before halftime then coasted to an easy victory. On Monday, it was a 104-90 win over the Chicago Bulls.

“We played our game, and we didn’t settle for less,” Gay said. “When we come out and want to play fast, and we don’t settle for anything else, I think we’re pretty good.”

Gay and Mike Miller each had 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Grizzlies. Pau Gasol added 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Mike Conley had 10 points and a career-high 10 assists.

Ben Gordon led the Bulls with 25 points, and Andres Nocioni had 16 points. Luol Deng added 13 points and Kirk Hinrich had 12 points and six assists for Chicago, which shot just 36.5 percent from the field while Memphis connected on 52 percent of its shots.

It was nice to see a strong, passionate defensive effort,” Memphis coach Marc Iavaroni said. “It was good to see our defense step up. There were a lot of deflections and a lot of activity.”

The Grizzlies built a 17-point lead in the second half and maintained the double-digit advantage the rest of the way, winning for the second time in three games.

The Bulls are 0-17 in games where their opponents score 100 points.

The Bulls pulled to 82-72 with 7:20 left, but Memphis made eight of its first 10 shots in the fourth quarter to hold off Chicago, never allowing the Bulls to cut the deficit under 10 in the final period.

None of the Bulls had a good shooting night. Gordon hit eight of 20 shots, while Nocioni was 5-of-16 and Hinrich was 5-of-14. Joe Smith and Thabo Sefolosha both missed six of nine shots.

“We wanted to come out early and be aggressive. Really set the tempo and play our style of basketball,” Conley said. “We really had it going up and down the court, moving it around and getting them uncomfortable.”

Chicago was coming off a 97-81 win Saturday over the Detroit Pistons, the Central Division leader, and expected to be more competitive.

“We haven’t been consistent effort wise, and our record is indicative of that,” Bulls interim coach Jim Boylan said. “We can’t have just one, two or three guys giving effort. We have to have all five. Even the teams that don’t have great records are coming to play.

“Memphis just outplayed us in every area effort-wise.”

The Bulls trailed 36-35 with 3:33 left in the first half but Memphis closed out the second quarter with 12 unanswered points to go into the break with a 48-35 lead.

Miller scored 11 points, and Gay and Conley added 10 points apiece in the half.

Chicago shot 33 percent in the first half as Nocioni missed all five of his shots and Sefolosha missed five of his six shots.

Chicago made a dent the lead in the early stages of the third as Memphis committed four turnovers in the first 2 minutes, leading to a 7-0 run by the Bulls to open the half. But Chicago still couldn’t improve its shooting touch, and after the early mistakes, Memphis found its rhythm and took a 74-62 lead into the final period.

“I really think we kind of ran their legs out a little bit,” Conley said. “We’re used to getting up and down, and I think we really wore on them in the fourth quarter when it came to crunch time. They started missing some of the shots they normally make.”

The New England Patriots‘ path to perfection has one last hurdle: a New York team of road warriors hoping for a Giant upset.

“We’ll try to elevate our game for one last performance,” said Tom Brady, the Patriots’ dimple-chinned, record-setting quarterback with the model girlfriend.

Brady and the Patriots (18-0) will try to match the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only teams to complete an undefeated season when they face Eli Manning and the Giants on Feb. 3 in the Super Bowl at Glendale, Ariz.

“I think you enter the season and you’re hoping to put together a bunch of great wins and you realize there’s challenges every step of the way,” Brady said after beating San Diego 21-12 in the AFC championship game Sunday. “To not have a letdown like most teams have — we had a few letdowns or times where we didn’t play our best, but we overcame them.”

Standing in the Patriots’ way are the Giants (13-6) and Manning — Peyton’s little brother, whose moxie and leadership abilities no longer can be questioned.

“We haven’t been given a shot, but we’re here,” Manning said of his Giants, who have won 10 straight on the road — including a 23-20 overtime win at Green Bay in the NFC title game. “I think we’re deserving of it.”

Las Vegas oddsmakers might think differently. They installed New England as a 13 1/2 -point favorite in the big game, in which New York will get another shot at destroying the Patriots’ path to perfection.

New England won 38-35 in its final game of the regular season, rallying from a 12-point second-half deficit against the Giants. The teams also played in the preseason finale, when New England won — with Brady sitting that one out.

Brady and the Patriots are playing in the Super Bowl for the fourth time in seven years. A win in this one would rank the Patriots as perhaps the greatest champion in NFL history — Spygate a long-forgotten speedbump.

In that scandal, the Patriots were fined $250,000 and coach Bill Belichick $500,000 for violating league rules by training a sideline camera on New York Jets coaches in their season-opening win. New England was stripped of its first-round draft pick next season, but the team stood by its coach.

And the Patriots never wavered.

“I think there’s special guys on this team that have stepped up all year when they needed to,” Brady said.

Maybe none more than New England’s record-breaking — and heartbreaking — quarterback.

Brady started this special season by becoming a father for the first time as his ex-girlfriend, actress Bridget Moynahan, gave birth to their son. Brady’s now dating former Victoria’s Secret model Gisele Bundchen, making them gossip fodder around the world.

When the football-hurling heartthrob got back to business, he became a cover story for other reasons.

Brady threw an NFL-record 50 touchdown passes in the regular season, with 23 of those to Randy Moss, who topped Jerry Rice’s record. Brady was also the league’s Most Valuable Player in helping New England score an NFL-record 589 points.

“They played great all year,” Belichick said. “I’m very lucky to coach this team.”

Linebacker Junior Seau quickly returned the compliment: “Bill is definitely the best coach ever.”

And the Patriots are on the verge of making NFL history.

“Now we can look ahead,” Belichick said.

They sure can. And they’ll see a familiar foe in the Giants, whose run through the playoffs into their first Super Bowl since 2001 was jump-started by their valiant effort against the Patriots in the last week of the regular season.

“That got us going, momentum,” Manning said.

This is the same New York team that gave up 80 points in its first two games and had fans calling for coach Tom Coughlin to be fired. Those same fans also wondered whether Manning, acquired in a draft-day deal in 2004, would ever become a franchise-type quarterback like his brother.

Little brother is now in the Super Bowl with a chance to bring home a title of his own.

“It’s exciting, but it’s not about me,” Manning said in his typical aw-shucks manner. “It’s about this whole team.”

Sure, Manning had a big hand in the Giants’ success, especially when the games took on greater meaning. He has been flawless in the postseason, completing a number of clutch throws without a turnover.

“It’s just a matter of getting hot at the right time,” Manning said. “It feels good because this is what you work for.”

New York became the first NFC wild-card team to reach the Super Bowl since Dallas in 1975. And the Giants did it the hard way, winning all their road games after dropping their season opener at Dallas.

“We’re going on the road again,” Coughlin said. “That’s good.”

New York visited Tampa Bay, Dallas and Green Bay in the playoffs and went home winners. Next up is the biggest game of them all and a chance to make history by ending New England’s attempt at football immortality.

“We have a lot of faith and trust in ourselves,” Manning said.

At least neither team will have to worry about a frigid forecast in Arizona. On Sunday, New England beat San Diego in 23-degree temperatures at Foxborough, Mass., while New York edged Green Bay in subzero conditions at Lambeau Field.

“I’m glad it’s warm weather,” Brady said, flashing that familiar smile. “Weather won’t be a factor. It should be exciting.”

 Indiana found a combination that worked and stayed with it.

Eric Gordon scored 25 points, D.J. White added 22 and the No. 9 Hoosiers, keeping the same lineup the entire second half, wore down Penn State 81-65 on Sunday.

 ”It was a slow-paced game. They were zoning us,” Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson said. “Usually you make a substitution for fatigue or for foul trouble. But I liked the way they were playing, so I saw no reason to make a substitution.”

The Hoosiers (16-1, 5-0 Big Ten) won their 27th straight home game and stretched their winning streak this season to 12 games, their longest in 15 years.

“Once we got to halftime, the quality of shots, the ball movement, was as good as we’ve played all year in the second half,” Sampson said. “We had maybe two turnovers. That’s just a high level of play. … The second half was outstanding at both ends.”

Penn State (10-7, 2-3), which lost leading scorer and rebounder Geary Claxton with a season-ending knee injury against Wisconsin on Tuesday, came out strong, stayed with the Hoosiers most of the game and led 52-51 before a 3-pointer by Gordon started a 14-4 run that put Indiana in control. White had Indiana’s next five points and assisted on another basket by Jamarcus Ellis, and the Hoosiers began pulling away for good.

“It was a stretch where we needed to pick it up,” White said. “We needed somebody to step up and the guards did a good job finding me open at the right time.

“There’s always a lot of work to be done. That’s what practices are for, to get better each game.”

White, Gordon, Ellis, Armon Bassett and Lance Stemler played all 20 minutes in the second half.

“It all started with our defense,” Ellis said. “Even in the second half, we came out a little lackadaisical but we started to pick it up the last 7-8 minutes. We knew they were going to play hard without Claxton.”

Two free throws by Talor Battle were the only points by the Nittany Lions in the next 4 minutes after White’s scoring burst, and two free throws by Gordon, a 3-pointer by Bassett and a layup by Gordon pushed Indiana’s lead to 72-58. Penn State, which has never won in 15 games at Assembly Hall, never came closer than 12 points the rest of the way, and Indiana took its biggest lead at 81-60 in the closing seconds.

“We were trying to keep them away from the basket. We got a little soft with our zone,” Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. “We hit that little stretch there where we weren’t really active. … We were OK for 30 minutes; unfortunately, this is a 40-minute game.”

Bassett added 17 points and Ellis finished with 12 for the Hoosiers. Battle, a freshman, had a career-high 20 points and Jamelle Cornley added 19 for Penn State. Freshman Jeff Brooks, who started in place of Claxton, had six points.

“This is the first time out without him,” DeChellis said of the loss of Claxton. “Talor played well, Jamelle played well. We just need to find another guy who can score.”

Despite the loss of Claxton, who was second in the Big Ten in scoring and rebounding, the Nittany Lions stayed with Indiana in the first half, even after a 10-0 run gave the Hoosiers an early 12-6 lead.

Four of Penn State’s first five field goals were 3-pointers, then a basket and two free throws by Cornley and a 3-pointer by Stanley Pringle tied the game for the first time at 22. After a turnover by Indiana, Pringle was fouled on a layup and converted the three-point play with a free throw for a 25-22 lead.

There were two more ties and three lead changes over the final 5 minutes of the first half.

Gordon’s fourth 3-pointer tied the game at 32, then Ellis stole the ball, was fouled and hit both free throws to put the Hoosiers back in front. After a turnover by Penn State, Lance Stemler hit a 3-pointer for the Hoosiers before Battle’s basket in the final seconds made it 37-34 at the break.

A 3-pointer by Battle gave Penn State its final lead at 52-51, and a basket by Cornley tied it for the final time at 54 before two straight baskets by White put Indiana ahead to stay.

“Unfortunately, they hit some pretty deep 3s and penetrated the zone, which allowed them to get some easy baskets,” Cornley said. “Right now, we’re trying to figure out who’s going to step up. We’re searching right now.”