Dec. 15, 2007
Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery 1 | Photo Gallery 2
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; December 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 overall on the year and equaled their best home start since going 6-0 at home to start the 2000-01 season. Denver, which shot just 30 percent (12-40) from the floor, fell to 3-5 on the season.
The Nittany Lions took a 26-10 lead into the locker room after a forcing the Pioneers into 4-of-16 shooting in the first half. The Pioneers 10 first half points marked the fewest points in a half for a Penn State opponent in the shot clock era. The Nittany Lions held Princeton to just 11 first half points on Wednesday.
"Defensively I thought we were pretty good in the first half," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "I thought we lost our focus the last 10 minutes of the second half defensively. But, to play two teams like this back-to-back and not give up a lot of baskets. I think we gave up one back door in the second half late, but other than that neither team got a back door dribble action layup, which they're noted for. So, I thought that was positive."
After the break, Penn State rattled off a 16-7 run to seal the 21-point victory. The win marked the second consecutive contest in which Penn State held its opponent under 40 points, the first time the Nittany Lions have achieved the feat since holding American to 25 and Colgate to 35 points in back-to-back games in the 1947-48 season.
Senior 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.) still 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 over the 700 career rebound mark and into eight place all-time in rebounding at Penn State with 708. Freshman Jeff Brooks (Louisville, Ky.) finished the game with a career high seven rebounds.
"I thought some guys did some things that were pretty good," DeChellis said. "Jeff Brooks did some things that were pretty good. Mike shot it pretty well. We played without Geary for a stretch and that was good for us, because sometimes that happens. So there are some positives."
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 and 15 playing in the game. Denver never led in the contest and committed 14 turnovers to their 12 made field goals.
For the second consecutive game, Penn State held its opponent under 12 points and saw its opponent struggle through nearly a 10-minute scoring drought in the first half. The Nittany Lions closed out the first period with a 17-4 scoring run, and took a 26-10 lead into the locker room. Walker led the way for Penn State with eight points, including a pair of three-pointers, in the first 20 minutes. The Lions shot 40 percent from the field (10-25) and 40 percent from behind the arc (4-10). Denver was a frigid 25 percent from the field (4-16), including 0-of-8 from three-point range. The Pioneers finished the half with nine turnovers, including four straight at one point.
Penn State took an early 11-6 lead on seven straight points from Claxton. The senior made his first three attempts from the field before picking up his second foul, which sent him to the bench with 12:41 to play in the half. Claxton had a hand in the Lions first nine points as he also found a slashing Andrew Jones to pick up an assist before committing his second personal.
A Walker three-pointer ignited a 12-0 run for Penn State. Denver had more turnovers (7) and fouls (7) than points at that point, as the Nittany Lions led 21-6 with 2:57 to play in the half.
A total of eight points from Walker and baskets from Danny Morrissey (Cleveland, Ohio) and D.J. Jackson (Farrell, Pa.) fueled the scoring streak by the Nittany Lions. Tanner sank a free throw with 2:57 to end a 9:59 scoring drought for Denver. The Pioneers also went 10:40 without a field goal.
Both teams started slow on the offensive end during the second half. Neither team made a field goal in the first 5:02 of the half. A Claxton foul shot gave the Nittany Lions a 30-12 lead with 15:38 to play. Brooks snapped the field goal drought with a driving right-handed hook shot in the middle of the lane, which put the Lions up 32-12. On the ensuing Denver possession, Claxton picked up his fourth personal foul, sending him back to the bench.
Over the first 9:37 of the second half, Penn State out-scored the Pioneers 16-7. Freshman Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) scored an electric five points during the scoring spurt, capped off by a steal and a breakaway two-handed dunk from the 5-11 freshman. Battle's dunk put Penn State up 42-17 with 10:33 to play in the game.
The two teams exchanged baskets over the next six minutes until the Pioneers rattled off six consecutive points to cut the lead to 55-33 with 4:12 to play. Penn State emptied its bench over the final four minutes of play to close out its second consecutive 20-point victory.
Penn State will continue a run of five straight games to close out 2007 when they return to action in the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday, Dec. 23 at 2 p.m. vs. Colgate. The game will be webcast on ESPN 360.
-NITTANY LIONS-