Nov. 22, 2007
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA., NOV. 22, 2007 - The Thanksgiving Day weather in Orlando was warm but the Nittany Lions were cold as Penn State (2-1) struggled shooting the ball and fell, 74-67, to South Carolina (3-1) in the opening round of the 2007 Old Spice Classic at Disney's Wide World of Sports.
Penn State will take on Rider, a 72-63 loser to N.C. State in the first round, at 10:30 a.m. Friday morning in the second round of the three-round tournament. That game can be seen live on ESPN2.
The Nittany Lions suffered their first loss of the season as they shot just 35 percent from the floor and 4-of-25 from three-point range on the day. Senior Geary Claxton (West Haven, Conn.) led a Penn State team with six key players seeing their first action against high-level competition. Claxton posted 18 points, 16 in the second half, on 7-of-16 shooting and added six rebounds. Claxton moved into the top 10 all-time in scoring and rebounding at Penn State on the day running his career totals to 1,323 points (passing John Amaechi, 1,310 for 10th all-time) and 647 rebounds (passing Gyasi Cline-Heard, 642) for 10th.
Freshman guard Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) posted 13 points and four assists and displayed his quickness and athleticism against the Gamecocks skilled guards, but went just 1-of-10 from three and 5-of-17 from the floor on the day.
Penn State, which trailed the entire game and 37-30 at the half, cut the Gamecock lead to three or less on seven occasions in the second half, including 66-63 with 1:52 to play, but couldn't make a basket or a play to close the gap or take the lead.
"We were close, close, close but couldn't get over the hump," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "If we ever get over that hump things change a little bit. We just didn't make a big shot or a free throw when we needed to."
South Carolina got big games from a pair of transfer guards in Devan Downey and Zam Frederick. Downey, a transfer from Cincinnati, posted a career-high 30 points making four threes and 10-of-11 from the free throw line in a game in which the teams were whistled for a combined 48 fouls. Frederick, a transfer from Georgia Tech, added 16 points (14 in the second half), seven rebounds and five assists, but shot just 6-of-15 from the field. The Gamecocks shot 43 percent for the game and were just 6-of-17 from three, but made 20-of-28 from the foul line.
Penn State dominated the glass posting 54 rebounds one game after racking up 53 vs. Canisius. Penn State won the rebounding battle by 21 boards and had 26 offensive, but got just 12 second half points as they couldn't get a basket to fall. The Nittany Lions also committed 20 turnovers, many coming in crucial situations with a chance to cut the lead.
"We were that close and that far away," DeChellis said. "We just couldn't make a shot when we needed to. We had 26 offensive rebounds and just couldn't stick it back in the basket."
Again, nine Nittany Lions played 10 minutes or more in the game, including junior Jamelle Cornley (Columbus, Ohio) who logged his first minutes of the season after suffering a bone bruise in his left knee during the Blue-White Scrimmage. Cornley had eight points, three assists and a team-high tying nine rebounds in 14 minutes of action.
"I thought Jamelle did well," DeChellis said. "He practiced yesterday and we thought we could get him some minutes. He played with a lot of energy and emotion, which is something we needed with a very, very young team out there at times."
Redshirt freshmen Andrew Jones (Philadelphia, Pa.) and David Jackson (Farrell, Pa.) both played significant roles. Jones posted eight points and tied Cornley with nine rebounds, seven offensive, in 22 minutes, while Jackson had seven points and seven boards in 27 minutes.
Five points from Danny Morrissey (Cleveland, Ohio) and a Claxton three pulled Penn State within three, 41-38, with 17:43 to play and the Lions got the margin to two, 44-42, following a Claxton jumper with 15:36 to play. However, the Lions missed two opportunities to tie the game and Downey buried a three to put the Gamecocks back in control.
A steal and break-away dunk from Claxton followed by a jumper from Stanley Pringle (Virginia Beach, Va.) again got Penn State within three, 53-50, with 10:53 to play, but the Lions missed their next 10 shots as South Carolina built the lead to nine, 59-50, before Cornley made a jumper with 6:40 to play. Battle followed with a lay-up off an assist from Cornley. Battle cut the lead to three again, 59-56, after missing a three, taking a feed from Jones following the rebound and scoring along the baseline.
South Carolina pushed the margin back to nine again, 66-57, as Penn State failed to score over the next two minutes. However, a three-point play from Battle after another Cornley assist and a pair of Claxton free throws again cut the lead to three, 66-63, with 1:52 to play. USC turned the ball over and Penn State had a chance to get closer, but Cornley missed in the paint. USC got a tip-in on the other end and then made 6-of-8 free throws in the last minute as Penn State was forced to press and foul.