Nov. 16, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., Nov. 16, 2007 - Coach Ed DeChellis sent waves of Nittany Lions to the floor and senior Geary Claxton (West Haven, Conn.) once again put on a dominating display as Penn State improved to 2-0 with a 93-40 pummeling of Canisius (0-2) Friday night in the Bryce Jordan Center. The 53-point victory was the largest for the Nittany Lions in 54 years dating to a 58-point win (105-47) over Ithaca in 1953.
"Canisius is a team that we didn't want to let start smelling coming back and starting to feel good," DeChellis said. "That's the way we wanted to play, and I think the first five minutes of the second half we set the tone, that we are a good team and are going to defend against you and push the ball and do the things we wanted to do."
Claxton was dominating in the first half as he posted points in the first 20 minutes on his way to his second-straight double-double and 19th of his career with 20 points and 10 rebounds in just 22 minutes of action. Junior Danny Morrissey (Cleveland, Ohio) added 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the three-point arc and senior Mike Walker (Lewisberry, Pa.) had 11, all in the first half, hitting 3-of-8 from the arc. Claxton moved into 11th all-time on the Penn State career scoring charts with 1,310 points and stands just five points and one rebound shy of the top 10 all-time in both categories.
The Nittany Lions out-rebounded the Golden Griffs 53-38, including 21 offensive boards, and equaled the Jordan Center record of 53 boards they set last season vs. VMI. Penn State played 10 players more than 10 minutes in the game, the most in the DeChellis era, and all 14 healthy Nittany Lions played six minutes or more in the game with 11 scoring. Penn State made 13-of-35 from the arc (37 percent) and 32-74 from the floor (43 percent) while committing just 10 turnovers.
"I thought those guys (off the bench) came in and did a good job," DeChellis said. "There wasn't any drop off. I think we have nine or 10 guys that can start, I really do. I think that we will try to be competitive at practice and push each other. I try to give them the attitude that this is the second wave. You are the second wave of guys coming in and going after it now. If we can get that mentality, we can come in and make something happen."
Freshman Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) made his first career start at point-guard and had just one turnover while scoring eight points and adding five assists in 22 minutes.
Canisius shot just 26 percent from the floor (15-57) and 14 percent from three (4-29) while committing 23 turnovers. The Griffs were led by Elton Frazier's 13 rebounds and 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
Claxton scored seven early points, including hitting 2-of-2 from three, as Penn State took a 19-5 lead eight minutes in. Canisius came out cold hitting just two of their first 16 from the field and suffering through a five minute scoring drought. The Griffs finally broke the drought at the 9:54 mark with a Greg Logins three. Penn State extended its lead to 17 on a Walker three, the first of eight straight points for the senior, but led by just 13 with 3:05 to play in the half after a Frank Turner jumper.
The Nittany Lions then reeled off a 9-0 run over the next two minutes behind seven straight points from Claxton and a Battle lay-up. Penn State took a 44-24 lead to the half after a late tip-in by Frazier.
Penn State put the pedal down and closed the door on the Griffs straight out of the locker room in the second half. The Nittany Lions reeled off the first 17 points of the second stanza to take a commanding 37-point lead, 61-24, with 15:10 to play. Morrissey had three treys in the run and freshman Jeff Brooks (Louisville, Ky.) went coast-to-coast finishing a nice finger role in the lane, drawing a foul and converting the three-point play.
"I think the most important statement was the first five minutes of the second half," DeChellis said. "We talked in the locker room about a good basketball team. We come out, play hard the first five, seven minutes, and put this thing away and there won't be any doubts about whose going to win the game."
Logins finally scored for Canisius, converting a three-point play at the 14:56 mark, but another Morrissey three pushed the lead back to 37 and DeChellis pulled his starters with 13:22 to play.
The second wave didn't miss a beat, promptly building on Morrissey's three to go on a 14-0 run and extend the lead to 48 points, 75-27, with 10:11 to play. Canisius again was scoreless for nearly five minutes as Schyler King (El Paso, Texas) hit a pair of jumpers, one a three, and Andrew Jones (Philadelphia, Pa.) had four points and David Jackson (Farrell, Pa.) two in the run. Penn State eventually built the lead to as many as 58 points, 90-32, following a Will Leiner (Coplay, Pa.) lay-up with 4:16 to play.
"A lot of young guys got their feet wet again," DeChellis said. "I think that was a positive since they got a chance to play. We have a really tight stretch coming up. We have five games in 10 days against really good people. We are away from home now. We're going to go on the road and play ACC people and SEC people. We're going to play people that are at a high level. We've got to be ready to play." Penn State will travel to Orlando, Fla., on Tuesday as they prepare to play in the Old Spice Classic at Disney's Wide World Of Sports, Nov. 22-25. The Nittany Lions play the first of three games in the tournament on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 22, as they take on South Carolina in a noon tip. That game can be seen on ESPN2. Every game in the tournament will be televised by ESPN2 or ESPNU.