Indiana ended their two conference skid after an overtime victory against Penn State on Wednesday evening. Even with sophomore Trayce Jackson-Davis’ 21-point performance, the of the evening was the impressive performance of Archie Miller’s guards.
Senior Al Durham finished the game with 18 points, 4 assists, and a pair of rebounds. He had a career best 4 three point shots.
After the game, Durham talked about the things that clicked for him. “It came with my momentum. Everybody knows I have been struggling a little bit from beyond the arc, but it was good to see. My teammates always kept encouraging me. My coaches kept encouraging me and it just finally went down tonight,” he said.
“We cannot hang our hat on if we lose or win. We have to make sure we are ready for the next game that is coming.”
“Getting to the basket was one of the ones that was working for us tonight but we were making the plays to kick off a three or hit it inside Trayce and Race. So, we were just reading off what they were doing defensively and making plays.”
Junior Rob Phinisee landed the game-winning shot with under 13 seconds to play and wrapped up the evening with 11 points, 3 critical blocks, and 2 rebounds off of the bench.
Phinisee reflected on the game-winning play that fell apart: “Yeah, obviously it was a broken play. I just saw an opening and I feel like I had to make a shot for my team. I just delivered it.”
Despite coming off the bench for a second straight game, Phinisee understands that he could be the most impactful for this Indiana team by being the fresh pair of quick legs that can be subbed in.”
“I mean, I will do whatever it takes. Come off the bench, starting. Really, my teammates really just gave me confidence, and just keep playing aggressive. Just played team ball. So, really I am just going to keep playing aggressive, be accurate in practice and play my role.”
