Jan. 2, 2008
EVANSTON, ILL., JAN. 2, 2008 - Penn State started the new year off on a high note Wednesday in Evanston, Ill., as the Nittany Lions opened up their 16th season of Big Ten play with a 79-68 victory at Northwestern. The win was Penn State's sixth in a row marking the team's longest win streak since posting seven straight wins in the 2000-01 season. The Lions 79 points were the most scored against Northwestern in Welsh-Ryan Arena in five years.
Jamelle Cornley and Geary Claxton led Penn State both notching double-doubles and playing all 40 minutes as the Nittany Lions improved to 9-4 on the year and won its Big Ten opener for the second straight year and third time in five years under coach Ed DeChellis.
Cornley posted his seventh career double-double with a season high 22 points and 11 rebounds as he dominated the Wildcats in the post. Cornley was a career-best 11-of-14 from the floor, notching three dunks and using his muscle to establish low position. Claxton posted his Big Ten leading seventh double-double on the season with 18 points and 11 boards and added four assists. Stanley Pringle posted a career high 17 points on a career-best 3-for-3 from the arc and added six assists. Talor Battle equaled a career high with 14 and had four assists and three steals.
Penn State shot a season-high 61.5 percent in the second half and 56.6 percent for the game as they used a small line-up of Battle, Pringle, Claxton, Cornley and David Jackson to start and play most of the second half. The Lions still dominated the glass 33-19. The Lions also shot a season-best 12-of-14 from the free throw line.
Northwestern fell to 5-5 on the season as the Nittany Lions ended a four-game Wildcat win streak. The Wildcats were led by 17 points from freshman Michael Thompson who made 5-of-9 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line. The Wildcats hit 11-of-25 from three, but Penn State dominated in the paint outscoring the Wildcats 40-12 in the paint.
Trailing 35-34 at the half, Penn state used a 20-4 run in the first eight minutes of the second half to rip control of the game away from the Wildcats and take a 54-39 lead with 11:53 to play. Battle had eight points in the run, including a pair of threes, and Penn State held a double-digit lead for all but three seconds the rest of the way.
Northwestern responded with a quick 4-0 run, but Penn State turned to Cornley and Claxton in the post to reestablish control. Danny Morrissey found Claxton cutting down the baseline and the senior threw down a two-handed dunk to give the Lions their biggest lead, 62-46, with 6:39 to play.
Northwestern attempted to get back in the game hitting a barrage of long threes, but Penn State never rattled and Pringle and Battle both went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the last 1:34 to ice the game.
Northwestern jumped out to an early 6-0 lead on a deep three and three-point play from Craig Moore and led for most of the first 20 minutes. They extended the lead to as many as nine, 18-9, midway through the half as Penn State struggled early against the Wildcats zone defense.
Penn State found its rhythm and the seams in the defense and cut the lead to one, 20-19, on a deep three from Pringle. Pringle would hit three treys in the half for a career high.
Penn State took its first lead, 23-22, on a drive and jumper off the glass from Claxton with 5:16 to play. Cornley got 10 first half points, including all three dunks, as he got a dunk in transition off a feed from Pringle and benefited from some excellent interior passing against the zone.
Pringle's three with eight seconds to play gave Penn State a 34-32 lead, but Northwestern quickly kicked the ball up the floor to Jason Okrzesik whose three at the buzzer bounced around the rim before dropping for a 35-34 Wildcat lead at the half.
Penn State, in the midst of a six-day road trip, will stay in Evanston through Thursday before heading to Champaign, Ill., to prepare for a match-up at Illinois on Sunday. That game is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. tipoff on the Big Ten Network.