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.”

One stat stood out to IU coach Kelvin Sampson after his team’s 65-60 victory against Minnesota Thursday night.

It wasn’t 46.8 percent, 40.9 percent or 16 - representing for the shooting percentage from the field, beyond the arc and the rebounding margin on the evening for Sampson’s No. 9 Hoosiers.

No, to the head coach, the most prominent number of the game was 26 – the number of turnovers committed in one of the toughest gyms to play in the Big Ten, Williams Arena.

“It was a weird game,” Sampson said. “Twenty-six turnovers and find a way to win on the road I don’t know if I’ve been in a game quite like that.”

Tubby Smith’s teams are usually known for their tough man-to-man defense, but Minnesota had shown zone looks and some trapping presses, Sampson said before the game.

The Gophers did indeed run some press defense off of made baskets. The Hoosiers struggled in the first half as the team had not faced the press all season.

“Their press really hurt us,” Sampson said. “They were the first team that pressed us.”

The pressure resulted in an array of turnovers for the Hoosiers. Sampson said one of the only positives of the turnovers was that they were the result of arrant passes going out of bounds – allowing the Hoosiers to set up its defense.

In particular, freshmen guards Eric Gordon and Jordan Crawford struggled protecting the ball in a hostile road environment.

“I kept telling Eric and Jordan in the timeout that we are wearing red,” Sampson said jokingly after the game.

Many of Gordon’s seven turnovers were the result of trying to push the flow of play Sampson said. While the expectations each game are sky high for the talented Gordon, Sampson reminded the media that he is still a freshman.

“Some of Eric’s turnovers were just unforced,” Sampson said. “Like all kids that have ability, they just try to do too much sometimes. Certainly he can play a lot better and I think he will.”

The Hoosiers made adjustments in the second half, forcing the Gophers to stop pressing midway through the final period and drop back to different half-court sets. Sampson said by getting the ball to the middle of the court the Hoosiers could use dribble penetration to help break the press.

“Just getting the ball to the middle of the court,” Sampson said. “The press only works if you make mistakes I know that sounds simple, but all we did different is get ‘Tone (junior guard/forward Jamarcus Ellis) to the middle of the floor.”

Despite the 26 turnovers, the Hoosiers escaped the Twin Cities with it’s third conference road win of the season and remained tied atop the Big Ten standings with Wisconsin at 4-0.

“It’s frustrating, but it’s a learning process, and we all know that,” senior Lance Stemler said.

Les Miles unleashed an ear-piercing whoop, then leaned back and exhaled as if he had been holding his breath all night.

“I just had to do that,” the LSU coach said.

Easy for him to say, now that he has the BCS national championship trophy.

The second-ranked Tigers danced, dodged and darted their way into the end zone Monday night for a 38-24 victory, turning the title game into a horrible replay for No. 1 Ohio State.

They made it look easy with Matt Flynn throwing four touchdown passes. Now the debate begins: Are they the best?

In a season of surprises, this was hardly an upset: Ohio State once again fell apart in college football’s biggest game. A year after the Buckeyes were routed by Florida 41-14, they barely did better.

But this was unprecedented. Playing at their home-away-from-home in the Big Easy, the Tigers (12-2) became the first two-loss team to compete for the title.

Still, LSU was a runaway No. 1 in the final Associated Press poll. The Tigers received 60 of 65 first-place votes from a national media panel. Georgia, Southern California, Missouri and Ohio State rounded out the top five. Georgia had three first-place votes while Southern Cal and No. 7 Kansas each had one.

And while Miles got to hoist the $30,000 crystal prize, surely many fans around the country were wondering if someone else was equally worthy.

The top six teams in the final AP poll all had two losses and Kansas had one.

“Certainly there will be some argument as to who’s the best team. But I think the national champion has been crowned tonight,” Miles said. “I have give great credit to some divine intervention that allows us to be in this position.”

Shouts of “SEC! SEC!” bounced around the Superdome as the Tigers won their second BCS crown in five seasons. They are the first school to win a second title since BCS rankings began with the 1998 season.

My team is the No. 1 team in the land,” said All-American defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey, who passed up the NFL draft to return for his senior season.

LSU rallied from an early 10-0 deficit, taking a 24-10 halftime lead that held up.

“We just didn’t do the things you need to do to win a ballgame of this nature. We’re very aware that LSU’s a deserving champion,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said.

Jacob Hester bulled for a short touchdown, Early Doucet wiggled loose for a touchdown and Dorsey led a unit that outplayed the top-ranked defense in the nation.

Ohio State (11-2) had little to celebrate after Chris “Beanie” Wells broke loose for a 65-yard TD run on the fourth play of the game.

“It’s unbelievable to know you’ve failed two years in a row,” Wells said.

LSU, whose two losses both came in triple overtime, became just the fourth favorite to win in 10 BCS championship games. The Tigers added to the crown they won in 2003 — their other national championship came in 1958.

“We came out here with the right frame of mind. We kept hanging in there,” Flynn said.

Miles probably got a little extra satisfaction, too. Though he turned down a chance to return home to Michigan, he did something his alma mater hasn’t done recently — beat the Buckeyes.

The loss left Ohio State at 0-9 overall in bowl games against teams from the Southeastern Conference. The SEC delights in whipping Big Ten teams in what’s become a rivalry that steams up fans on both sides.

Better on offense and defense, the Tigers got two big plays on special teams — Ricky Jean-Francois blocked a field goal, and LSU took advantage of a roughing-the-kicker penalty.

Flynn hit Doucet with a 4-yard toss with 9:04 left for a 31-10 lead and the celebration was on in earnest. The Buckeyes made the score more respectable on Todd Boeckman’s 5-yard TD pass on fourth down to Brian Robiskie, only to have Flynn come back and throw his second TD pass to Richard Dickson.

Flynn finished 19-for-27 for 174 yards and was picked the game’s most outstanding offensive player.

As the clock ticked down, Boeckman threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Brian Hartline.

Ohio State was trying to win its second BCS title in six years, and add to the one that Tressel captured by upsetting Miami 31-24 in double overtime for the 2002 championship.

For sure, the Buckeyes were perhaps the most-maligned No. 1 team in recent memory, with critics attacking them all season. Tressel gave his players a 10-minute DVD filled with insults hurled at them by television and radio announcers, hoping it would motivate his team.

Instead, the Tigers ravaged the nation’s best defense and showed that maybe all those naysayers were right.

“I worry about disappointment because of how hard the kids work. I don’t worry about criticism,” Tressel said. “If you struggle taking criticism, you better not be at Ohio State and better not be playing football.”

Known as a punishing runner, Wells got the game off to a quick start. On the fourth play from scrimmage, the Buckeyes’ bruising back started left, made a nifty cut right and burst through the middle.

Wells was gone, off on the longest run of his career. And so much for SEC speed — Wells outran All-America safety Craig Steltz for a 65-yard TD.

Wells was welcomed by a familiar face once he got back to the sideline. Miami Dolphins receiver Ted Ginn Jr., wearing scarlet and gray Mardi Gras beads, knew all about early strikes. He provided Ohio State’s only highlight in last year’s BCS title game, returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown.

This time, Ohio State made it 10-0 on its next possession. Boeckman hit a wide-open Brandon Saine for 44 yards, setting up Ryan Pretorius’ 25-yard field goal.

Only five minutes into the game, Ohio State and its all-brass band was blowing away the Tigers. LSU looked dazed and defensive coordinator Bo Pelini — who now becomes Nebraska’s full-time coach — had few answers.

Fortunately for the Tigers, their offense started clicking. On a team full of flash, it was the reliable ol’ Hester who settled down LSU.

First, he barreled into All-America linebacker James Laurinaitis for a short gain. Both players are the rugged type and in a nice show of sportsmanship, Laurinaitis — whose dad, Joe, once starred as “Animal” in the “Legion of Doom” wrestling tag team — helped up Hester.

Hester broke off a 20-yard run on the next play, and LSU eventually got a 32-yard field goal from Colt David that made it 10-3.

That score late in the first quarter seemed to jazz everyone in purple and gold. The Tigers zoomed into fast motion, the band’s Golden Girls suddenly put more bounce in their step and thousands of fans started screaming even louder.

Flynn also seemed to recognize exactly what Ohio State was trying to do. LSU quarterbacks spend a lot of time with an Xbox, playing a custom-made video game to read defenses. Apparently, what worked on the screen did even better on the field.

Two big penalties against Ohio State helped set up Flynn’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Dickson, who somehow found himself uncovered. Flynn punctuated the strike by hollering, giving a wild fist pump and putting up both hands to signal TD.

Tied at 10, the Buckeyes counted on Wells. He delivered one of the season’s best stiff-arms on a 29-yard romp, and Ohio State seemed poised to retake the lead.

Instead, Jean-Francois crashed through the middle, swung his big right arm and blocked Pretorius’ 38-yard field goal try.

As Ohio State trudged off the field and LSU ran on, it was all over. It only took a while to confirm it.

“We had a chance early and a chance later. LSU just made too many plays,” Laurinaitis said.

LSU turned to another of its five dangerous tailbacks, and NCAA sprint star Trindon Holliday zigzagged closer to the goal line. Flynn’s perfect pass to Brandon LaFell in the back left corner of the end zone put the Tigers ahead 17-10.

Then, it was time for LSU’s defense to make the big play. Cornerback Chevis Jackson intercepted Boeckman’s loss toss and streaked 34 yards down the right sideline.

The Tigers moved to a first-and-goal at 1. On third down, Hester plunged up the middle and it was 24-10.

This would have been a perfect Rose Bowl for the USC Trojans, except for the one part they couldn’t control.

They couldn’t pick their opponent.

The sixth-ranked Trojans routed Illinois 49-17 on Tuesday and showed the rest of the country that, yes, maybe they are the best team in college football right now.

Certainly, a better test could have come against Georgia or Virginia Tech, or maybe next week against Ohio State in the national title game.

But the Rose Bowl wanted a Pac-10-Big Ten matchup, and the national title game didn’t want Southern California. So, it wound up being USC-Illinois in the Granddaddy of ‘Em All, and the Trojans made the Illini pay.

I would love to play one more,” defensive lineman Sedrick Ellis said. “I don’t think any team in the NCAA could beat us right now. Not Ohio, not LSU.”

Freshman tailback Joe McKnight finished with 170 of USC’s Rose Bowl-record 633 yards. The 49 points tied a record, too, and the blowout gave the Trojans 11 wins for an unprecedented sixth straight season.

They have arguably been the country’s best team over that span, and might have been the best this season, too. Lacking the playoff that coach Pete Carroll favors or the trip to the title game he lobbied for, the Trojans (11-2) will have to take this overwhelming display in Pasadena.

“Everything that was out there for us, we took,” Carroll said. “The rest of it is up for discussion. But would I love to still be playing right now? Sure would. We’d go out there any time, any place, any venue and throw our football out there and see what we could do.”

The game featured 1,078 total yards of offense. Despite the margin, things were truly competitive for a brief moment. Illinois’ Rashard Mendenhall broke a 79-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter to trim what had been a three-touchdown deficit to 21-10.

Minutes later, Mendenhall scooted 55 yards with a screen pass from Juice Williams, and Ron Zook’s 13th-ranked Illini (9-4) looked as if they might really complete the impossible dream, from 2-19 over the last two years to Rose Bowl champions.

But two plays later, Kaluka Maiava popped the ball out of receiver Jacob Willis’ hands and USC’s Brian Cushing won a scramble in the end zone, one of four Illinois turnovers

You can’t turn the ball over,” Zook said. “Whether they were forced or we weren’t playing with consistency and the intensity you have to have, I’m not sure.”

Moments later, came the play of the game, when John David Booty threw a sloppy lateral to McKnight, who didn’t catch it, but was able to scoop it up on the bounce and run 65 yards. McKnight was chased down by defensive back Vontae Davis — yes Zook is recruiting some speed to Champaign — but four plays later, Booty hit Fred Davis with a 2-yard touchdown pass.

That made it 28-10 and the rout was on.

“You can’t imagine how much work it takes for John to throw it like that so it bounces just right,” Carroll joked. “But Joe made something out of it. It was exhilarating, the speed he came out with and the play he made.”

Booty threw for 255 yards and three scores to set a Rose Bowl record with seven career TDs.

USC linebacker Rey Maualuga had three sacks, an interception and a forced fumble for a defense that allowed only 79 yards in the first half.

McKnight, hyped as USC’s next Reggie Bush, finished with 125 yards rushing and 45 yards receiving, and his broken play in the third quarter wasn’t the only time the Trojans made something crazy and unexpected happen.

It started in the first quarter, when Booty lateraled to Garrett Green, who is listed as a receiver-quarterback, and Green threw crossfield to Desmond Reed for a 34-yard touchdown strike and a 14-0 lead. Reed was so open, he could’ve walked into the end zone, but instead did a leaping front tuck. Stuck the landing, too, but got six points instead of a perfect 10.0, and also was docked a 15-yard unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty.

That made no difference, and in the end, Illinois’ nice little stretch of competitiveness in the third quarter was only a blip, as well.

Mendenhall finished with 214 total yards in what could be the last college game for the junior. Williams had 245 yards passing for the Illini, whose last Rose Bowl trip came 24 years ago and ended in a 45-9 loss to quarterback Rick Neuheisel and UCLA.

The score this time was similar, and not totally unexpected.

The Illini were 13 1/2 -point underdogs — biggest of any of this season’s 32 bowl games — and the final score only added fuel to the fire of those who criticized the Rose Bowl for insisting on its traditional conference pairing.

Many said the Big Ten was weak this season, and while the title game will be the ultimate test of that, this certainly didn’t help the image.

“Not good. This hurts,” said Zook, whose team beat Ohio State 28-21 in November. “I told our guys we were representing the conference and we let the Big Ten down. I think we can compete, but we have to do it.”

Meanwhile, USC was said to be playing the best football of anyone when the regular season ended, and didn’t do anything to debunk that theory.

Carroll, a proponent of a playoff, lobbied for the Trojans to have LSU’s spot in next week’s national title game, the first to include a team with two losses. But a 24-23 loss to 41-point underdog Stanford in October was USC’s undoing.

On this day at the sunsplashed Rose Bowl, it was hard to imagine the Trojans losing to Stanford.

Not that they were perfect.

Early in the game, a snap sailed over punter Greg Woidneck’s head and he had to scramble to get off a 20-yard punt. Later, Justin Harrison picked off Booty’s pass and returned it to the USC 20, but Illinois couldn’t score off that. Also in the first half, Harrison pulverized receiver Vidal Hazelton and sent the ball flying out, only to redirect into the waiting hands of McKnight.

The common denominator in all was that was that Illinois gave itself chances to make big plays but couldn’t cash in on any.

“In college football, it’s all about momentum and momentum swings,” Mendenhall said. “You’ve got to capitalize when you get a chance.”

The Trojans did, and earned a chance to celebrate — or maybe wonder about what might have been.

“Let the argument go out there for the people battling with the BCS process to figure this thing out,” Carroll said. “I have no answer for them. I just wish we could keep going.”

The Motor City Bowl is low in the postseason pecking order.

The Purdue-Central Michigan thriller, however, might be tough to top.

Chris Summers kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired, lifting the Boilermakers to a 51-48 victory over the Chippewas on Wednesday night.

The 99 points tied the second-highest total in a bowl game that ended in regulation, trailing only the 2003 Insight Bowl, where California beat Virginia Tech 52-49.

“It reminded me of some of our early games at Purdue and also of the wacky WAC,” Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. “It wasn’t my favorite game, but it was a heck of a game for the spectators.”

Curtis Painter threw for a school-record 546 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Boilermakers build three 21-point leads and set up the winning kick.

“It’s a fun game to play if you’re on this end,” he said.

Painter was 35-of-54 and both of his interceptions went off receiver Dorien Bryant’s hands.

“It’s big for us to get a win here after losing our last three games,” said Painter, whose passing total ranked third in a bowl game. “It feels good to get all of the statistics, but the best statistic is in the win column.”

Purdue receivers Greg Orton, Jake Standeford and Dustin Keller had at least 112 yards receiving apiece.

Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour threw for 292 yards and four scores and ran for 114 yards and two TDs, feeding off the energy from the crowd of 60,624 that created more noise than most Detroit Lions games in the same venue.

“The atmosphere was amazing,” said LeFevour, who completed 17 of 34 passes and ran 33 times. “As we started rolling in the second half, the crowd started getting into it more and it just got better and better.”

Early on, Purdue (9-5) didn’t seem inspired perhaps because playing in Detroit isn’t exactly what a Big Ten team has in mind when it dreams of playing in the postseason.

The Mid-American Conference champion Chippewas (8-6) got the Boilermakers’ attention, though, with an interception on the third play of the game and by taking a 3-0 lead.

Purdue then seemed to get fired up and appeared to be rolling toward a rout, leading 27-6 midway through the second quarter, 34-13 at halftime and 41-20 early in the third.

The Chippewas proved they belonged on the same field.

Their comeback started with LeFevour’s scoring pass to Bryan Anderson at 10:19 of the third and the quarterback tied the game with two runs late in the quarter.

Purdue answered with Jaycen Taylor’s TD run midway through the fourth quarter and seemed to seal the win with a sack when Central Michigan had the ball with 2:15 and no timeouts.

But LeFevour wasn’t done.

He escaped a sack on the next play and got out of bounds. Then, he connected three first downs before lobbing a pass to Anderson from 19 yards to make it 48-all with 1:09 left to play.

The sophomore finished the season with 27 passing touchdowns and 19 rushing, falling just short of joining Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow of Florida as the only players to have 20 of each in the same season.

Painter, who broke the Purdue yardage mark shared by Drew Brees and Kyle Orton, was 4-of-5 for 42 yards on the winning drive.

“It was a heck of college football game and it might go down as one of the best bowls,” Central Michigan coach Butch Jones said. “I can’t say enough about our kids. These kids are special.

“Obviously, it didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to, but I think you saw something special out there. They fought to the bitter end.”

Jones, a former West Virginia assistant, is reportedly a candidate for the Mountaineers’ job that opened when Rich Rodriguez left to coach Michigan.

“I’m not going to comment on that,” Jones said.