Kelvin Sampson met with members of the media today to discuss Tuesday’s game against Iowa. Here are some of the highlights of what he said.

He said that what fans are seeing from this year’s Hoosiers in terms of level of effort and style of play is the same as how his teams played year in and year out at Montana Tech, Washington State and Oklahoma. “What’s new to a lot of people here is how my teams have played for 20-some years,” he said.

Joey Shaw didn’t play much against Penn State, Sampson said, because his defensive effort wasn’t adequate.

“There are some young kids that base their existence on whether they are making shots,” Sampson said. “You can’t do that. You have to play hard.

“We met this morning before we worked out. I pointed certain things out. He knows why he didn’t play, and he will be better next game.”

Lance Stemler didn’t have a good game against Penn State. Sampson said he’s not worried about that, but he does think Stemler needs to get tougher and play with the same intensity in every game.

“I don’t worry about Lance,” Sampson said. “Lance is a pretty smart kid. He didn’t play well the other day. He’s had some other games he hasn’t played so well in, but he bounced back, and he will bounce back. He will be fine.”

Rod Wilmont knows he can’t keep putting the ball up like he did after he got hot against Penn State, Sampson said.

The Hoosier coach said he doesn’t have to tell Wilmont to dial back his shot attempts after launching 17 3-pointers Saturday because Wilmont already knows not to keep shooting so much.

The IU wrestling team’s woes continued Monday when Bloomington police arrested IU sophomore Jose Escobedo on prelimnary charges of battery.

In addition to Escobedo, police also issued a warrant for Escobedo’s teammate, freshman Eric Cameron. Cameron was hospitalized last semester after he jumped from a downtown parking garage while running from the police.

Cameron faces misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief, resiting law enforcement and minor in a tavern.

For more on this story, go read the H-T’s Marcela Creps’s report.

Escobedo is a 133-pound wrestler from Griffith, IN whose cousins Angel Escobedo and Andrae Herndandez are also on the team.

Cameron is a 174-pound freshman from Cincinnati, Ohio. In high school, he finished third in the state in his weight class in 2006, and fourth in 2005.

In the biggest recruiting news to hit the Hoosier football program in many years, Warren Central football standouts Jerimy Finch and Jeff Boyd both gave Indiana verbal commitments Sunday evening.

Finch, a 6-foot-1, 203-pound safety, is rated the No. 1 player in-state player in the high school class of 2007 by Rivals.com. Boyd, a 6-3, 275-pound defensive end, is the No. 7 player in Indiana, according to Rivals.com.

Indiana has not been successful in landing the top in-state football players in recent years. Finch’s decision, after he had previously picked Michigan, could be a turning point for IU coach Terry Hoeppner’s recruiting.

We will provide a complete report on Finch’s and Boyd’s decisions in Monday’s H-T.

Check out this report out of the Bay Area on the Eli Holman press conference, which Matt Dollinger provided extensive coverage of this week.

About half way down the page you can see a video of the report, which includes Holman playing around in street clothes. It proves absolutely not a single thing about how good he might be at basketball, or whether he’s grown rusty without competition. But you might enjoy it anyway.

The boys over at HoosierHoopsta apparently got Indiana guard Earl Calloway to talk about the incident during last week’s Purdue game.

You need to be a member of the site to read the entire report, which can be found by clicking here, but the basic idea is this: Painter claims Calloway trash talked to him during the game, Calloway claims he did not.

This report by Ed Anderson is only slightly biased — you know, like Fox News — so take it for what it’s worth.

Calloway has been instructed, like all Indiana athletes, to not speak with the media unless media relations facilitates the discussion. That probably didn’t happen here, so if Calloway did indeed speak here then he must have felt pretty strongly about sharing his side of the story.

Indiana gets it first win on the road, battling past a game Penn State team that couldn’t sustain its early pressure.

Thanks for joining us.

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3:50, second half: Indiana 66, Penn State 61

Sampson just called a timeout with 3:50 left. This is where the Hoosiers have lost their last couple of road games. Looks like he wants to settle them down a bit.

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8:25, second half: Indiana 61, Indiana 55

A.J. Ratliff’s 3-pointer just forced Penn State into a timeout.

White took a nice pass inside and scored to give the Hoosiers their first lead of the day at 55-54.

Then White made a nice pass of his own, sensing a double team and dishing out to Bassett for an open 3.

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11:20, second half: Penn State 52, Indiana 50

Nice work by Mike White to get inside and finish Wilmont’s drive to the lane.

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15:33, second half: Penn State 49, Indiana 46

Wilmont 25, His Teammates 21

He needs some help.

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Halftime: Penn State 41, Indiana 40

Rod Wilmont is 7-of-16 from the field and 6-of-12 from 3-point. He’s got 20 points. He hasn’t scored that many since the Western Illinois game on Dec. 6.

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3:51, first half: Penn State 36, Indiana 30

Indiana is now showing a 2-3 zone. They don’t do that much.

Still, Penn State found Cornley wedged in the middle and he hit a little jump hook and was fouled. He’ll got to the line to try to add one.

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4:48, first half: Penn State 32, Indiana 27

A 3 by Ratliff, a deep 2 by Calloway and a steal and lay in by Bassett has put Indiana back within two possessions.

Transition baskets are working. The half court offense, not so much.

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7:07, first half: Penn State 30, Indiana 20

The Hoosiers had pulled to within 20-22 thanks to 3-pointers from Calloway and Wilmont and a basket inside by Keeling.

Then Penn State eight point run, getting four on free throws — they’re in bonus — and another one inside.

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11:18, first half: Penn State 19, Indiana 9

Nice feed by Morrisey into Claxton for an easy basket down low.

White is asserting himself at the other end, picking up a few rebounds and scoring them. Xavier Keeling is going to have to handle extra playing time because Lance Stemler already has two fouls.

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Penn State 15, Indiana 5

Danny Morrisey’s 3-pointer just bounced around the rim for a good three seconds before falling to give Penn State a 10-point lead. Sampson called time out.

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Indiana is not adjusting to playing against Penn State’s 2-3 zone or its inside offense. The Nittany Lions are getting good looks from the paint and the Hoosiers are just chucking the ball around the perimeter.

This will deteriorate eventually. Penn State won’t be able to pressure the wings as much as it is without D.J. White scoring eventually.

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Starters for the Hoosiers: Stemler, White, Wilmont, Calloway, Bassett.

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Uh oh. They turned the lights out here in preparation for introductions. How dare they?

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Before you ask, we left Doug at home. I assume he’s taking care of his editor duties, possibly cleaning his house and perhaps walking his dogs. I know you’ll miss him, but the guy deserves a day off at least once a month.

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Our photographer, Chris Howell, and I are here at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa.

It is raining. It rains here from the middle of October until you walk out of your last final in the spring.

Check that. Sometimes it snows.

As of tonight, Jerimy Finch’s interest in Indiana is more than just a rumor, according to HoosierNation.com editor John Decker.

Decker said Friday night that Finch, the top-rated in-state player in the class of 2007, is one of ten recruits in Bloomington this weekend making visits to Indiana’s football program. Finch is a 6-foot-1, 203-pound safety from Warren Central who in June gave Michigan a verbal commitment.

For a couple of months, the buzz around Indiana’s football program has been that Finch and others from the Warren Central team that won a record-breaking fourth-straight state titles were taking a hard look at putting Indiana back on the national football recruiting map by picking the Hoosiers over some of the nation’s top football programs.

That buzz has led to Finch’s verbal commitment to Michigan being downgraded by recruiting analysts to a “soft verbal,” meaning Finch is still looking at other schools. With the Hoosiers missing out on the highest-rated in-state recruits in recent years, the Warren Central standout would be easily the biggest-name player coach Terry Hoeppner has landed at Indiana.

“Finch would be Indiana’s highest-rated recruit since Levron Williams,” Decker said.

In addition to Finch, Warren Central defensive end Jeff Boyd is part of the group visiting IU this weekend, Decker said. Scout.com has the 6-foot-2, 280-pound Boyd rated as the seventh-best in-state player in the class of 2007.

Boyd previously gave Kentucky a verbal commitment, but that commitment is also now listed as a soft verbal.

Boyd could give the Hoosiers an important addition at a position of high priority as Indiana’s coaches work on adding the last few players to their 2007 recruiting class. With the loss over the last two years of senior defensive ends Victor Adeyanju, Ben Ishola and Kenny Kendal, the Hoosiers need to add to their talent and depth at this position.

We will provide more information on Finch’s visit and his interest in playing at Indiana as we get it.