UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., Dec. 15, 2007 - The Penn State men's basketball team improved its home record to a perfect 6-0 after rolling over cold-shooting Denver, 60-39, in the Jordan Center on Saturday. With the win, the Nittany Lions improve to 6-4 on the year, while Denver falls to 3-5 on the season.
The victory builds on the Lions' best start at home since the 2000-01 season. After a dismal first half for Denver, the Lions took a 26-10 lead into the locker room. After the break, Penn State rattled off a 16-7 run to seal the 21-point victory. The victory also notched the second consecutive contest in which Penn State held its opponent under 40 points.
Mike Walker (Lewisberry, Pa.) paced the Nittany Lions with 14 points on 4-8 shooting from beyond the three-point arc. Hampered by foul trouble for most of the game, Geary Claxton (New Haven, Conn.) finished with 13 points on an efficient 5-of-7 afternoon from the floor in just 19 minutes of action. Claxton also pulled down nine rebounds, sending him 700 career rebound mark.
Rob Lewis led the Pioneers with 12 points, while Joe Jackson finished with 11 markers and Adam Tanner finished with 10 points. Penn State shot 40.8 percent from the field (20-49), while Denver finished the day shooting a meager 30 percent (12-40), including 15.8 percent from three-point range (3-19). Penn State dominated the glass out-rebounding Denver 39-25.
In all, Penn State finished with 10 players scoring on the final stat sheet. The Lions committed 12 turnovers to the Pioneers' 14, and Denver never led in the contest.
More to follow...