| Geary Claxton led the Nittany Lions with 17 points against Michigan, scoring in double figures for the 11th straight game. |
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., February 1, 2006 - Facing the fourth in a series of five straight ranked opponents, the Penn State men's basketball team (10-9 overall; 2-6 Big Ten) made another strong run at an upset but came up short again Wednesday night in the Bryce Jordan Center as No. 20/21 Michigan (16-3 overall; 6-2 Big Ten) escaped with their fifth straight win, 71-65. The Wolverines moved into a tie atop the Big Ten standings as they posted their ninth straight win in the series with Penn State.
"They are a frustrated team because they have done some good things and they have played people pretty well," Penn State Coach Ed DeChellis said of his Nittany Lions. "That was a good basketball team, they aren't the kind of team that is going to come in here and roll over. They are where they are at the top of the league and top 20 in the country. We tell them that we are going to keep fighting and that is the only thing we can do. We are not quitting. We are not a team like that or a staff like that. This is the best league in the country and there are going to be times when you have to play them in a row, we just have to keep working."
Penn State, which committed a season-low eight turnovers and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds on the night, was led by sophomore forward Geary Claxton who posted 17 points and eight rebounds playing 39 minutes for the second straight game. Freshmen forward Jamelle Cornley posted 16 points and five rebounds on the night as the Big Ten's leading freshman scorer played another strong game posting 12 of his points in the first half. Cornley was evaluated by doctors following the game after suffering a sprain to his left knee with 2:50 remaining and is expected to be able to play in Penn State's next game.
Michigan, which out-shot the Lions 51 percent to 39.4 percent on the night, was led by Dion Harris, who hit a Penn State opponent season-high seven three-pointers on his way to 23 points for the night. Harris, seven-of-11 from the arc, and Daniel Horton, three-of-eight, were part of a 12-for-25 three-point shooting night for the Wolverines who shot 48 percent from the arc and outscored the Nittany Lions 36-15 from three-point range.
A Claxton rejection of Courtney Sims under the Wolverine basket followed by a Claxton three-pointer on the other end gave Penn State a six-point lead, 10-4, at the first media timeout. The teams traded buckets over the next six minutes and as Penn State continually pushed the margin back to six. Cornley scored three straight buckets for the Lions during the stretch as he was impressive in the paint and went on to shot a strong seven-of-11 for the night.
A 9-2 run by Michigan, capped by a Ron Coleman three-pointer with 7:26 remaining in the half gave the Wolverines the lead at 19-18. A Cornley bucket got it back for Penn State at 20-19 but Horton followed with a three. Five of Michigan's final six buckets of the half came from behind the arc as Harris closed the half hitting three straight. Michigan held its biggest lead of the half at 33-29 after a Harris three. Cornley made six of the Lions final eight field goals of the half and a Claxton bucket with 18 seconds to go sent the teams to the locker rooms with Michigan leading 33-31.
Michigan jumped out quickly in the second half as Harris hit a pair of threes and Coleman got a three and dunk for a 44-35 lead. Penn State cut the lead to three at 47-44 as Milos Bogetic hit a pair of shots and Cornley knocked in a jumper at 12:19. Two minutes later a Harris three had the lead back to 10 at 54-44. Another Harris three at 6:25 produced the Wolverines biggest lead of the night, 62-49. Penn State refused to go away though going on a 12-2 run over the next three minutes to cut the margin to 64-61 with 2:52 to play. Ben Luber had all five of his points on the night during the run as he made a pair of jumpers, on from behind the arc, and Mike Walker had a lay-up and the three-pointer that capped the run.
Penn State could get no closer. Travis Parker, who contributed five points and eight rebounds, made scored to get it to 66-63 with 1:29 to play but a Horton three on the other end closed the door on the Nittany Lion upset bid.
"All the hustle plays we tried to make, we did all the things we needed to except win the game," DeChellis said. "That seems to be the thing here with all our losses - we play well for periods and then something bad happens. When we were down 10, we kept going. I think it is a very resilient team."
Penn State continue the longest stretch against ranked opponents in the program's history as the Nittany Lions travel to No. 6/6 Illinois on Saturday, February 4 for a 9:00 p.m. (ET) tip off in Champaign, Illinois. The game will be televised by ESPN-Plus and can be seen locally on FSN Pittsburgh.