Feb. 16, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; February 16, 2008 - Freshman Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) scored the Nittany Lions' last nine points and sank two clutch free throws with 7.1 seconds to play to lift Penn State (12-12, 4-8) to a 52-51 victory over Illinois (11-15, 3-10) in the Jordan Center on Saturday.
The win marked Penn State's first ever sweep of a season series against the Illini, having won earlier in the year 68-64 in Champaign, and the second straight win for the Nittany Lions at home.
"Talor made a big play and made some big free throws," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "It was a really special play and I am really glad for him. He wanted the ball and he had the ball. "
A Chester Frazier three-pointer with 5:19 left gave Illinois a 44-41 lead, but Penn State scored the next five points of the contest to reclaim a 46-44 lead. D.J. Jackson (Farrell, Pa.) converted on a pair of free throws and Battle nailed a three-pointer set up by an Andrew Jones (Philadelphia, Pa.) screen on the right wing to set the score at 46-45 with 4:15 to go. The bucket marked the start of Battle's scoring string to close out the game.
Illinois squared the game at 46 after a Shaun Pruitt basket at the 3:54 mark. However, Battle was not done, as he sank two foul shots to break the tie with 3:08 to go. Then Jackson went over two Illini to tip a loose ball at the mid-court line ahead to Battle, who glided to the basket for a right-handed finger roll giving the Nittany Lions a 50-46 edge.
The Illini drew within two when Brian Randle slipped free for an easy lay-up with 1:23, setting the score at 50-48. A costly Penn State turnover handed the ball back to Illinois with 50 seconds to play in the game. The Illini ate up all of the shot clock and Chester Frazier drove into the lane and kicked to Demetri McCamey for a three-pointer and a 51-50 lead with 19 seconds remaining.
Following a Penn State timeout to set up a final play, Battle drove deep into the paint before getting fouled by Frazier while attempting a lay-up with seven seconds to play. The freshman calmly stepped to the charity stripe and nailed both free throws to seal the 52-51 victory.
"Coach drew up a play and we were going to try and hit Jamelle off a screen in the paint," Battle said. "Coach told me that if it wasn't open then attack the hoop. I saw Jamelle come off the screen, and he wasn't open and his back was turned, so I crossed over and got fouled and I stepped to the line and made the foul shots. I had 100% confidence in myself. I knew I was going to make them. I shot them with confidence and they fell."
Illinois' late attempt to notch a basket as the clock wound down was not successful, securing the Lion win.
The savvy Lion freshman's nine straight points keyed the season sweep of the Illini. Battle finished the evening with 14 points, a career high tying six rebounds and four assists, posting his sixth straight double-figure scoring game. Stanley Pringle (Virginia Beach, Va.) scored 11 in the victory as the Nittany Lions shot 52 percent in the first half but cooled considerably in the second half before finishing at 42 percent on the night (16-38). It marked the eighth straight game in which one of the Nittany Lions diminutive guards, Battle, Pringle or Mike Walker, has led the team scoring.
Trent Meacham paced Illinois with 11 points, three rebounds and three assists. Pruitt chipped in with 10 markers. Illinois out-rebounded the Lions 33-25 on the night, pulling down 15 offensive boards and posting 15 second chance points in the losing effort. Penn State held the Illini, who entered the game averaging 75 points per game in their last three, to just 38.5 percent from the floor, a low for a Big Ten opponent on this season.
"They (Penn State's guards) did a good job in zone defense, which was really important to cover a lot of ground," DeChellis said. "They all did a pretty good job. We rebounded better the second half than we did the first half. The first half we were atrocious rebounding the basketball and that was one of the keys coming in."
The first 20 minutes of play were marked by hot shooting from the Nittany Lions and aggressive rebounding from the Illini. Penn State shot near the 60 percent mark for much of the half, ending at 52 percent (11-21) and 50 percent from beyond the arc (5-10). Pringle paced the Lions with nine points in the half. However, Illinois dominated the glass, out-rebounding Penn State 19-9. Illinois managed 10 offensive boards, which accounted for 11 second-chance points. The Illini's outstanding effort on the glass countered the hot Penn State shooting to set the score at 28-28 at the break.
Both teams got off to a nice start from the field, each making five of its first eight attempts from the floor. Illinois took a 12-5 lead with 15:34 to play in the first half after a Pruitt lay-in, but the Nittany Lions countered with a Jackson three-pointer and a Pringle jumper to set the score at 12-10 with 14:45 to play.
After exchanging a series of baskets, Illinois managed to take a 20-15 lead with 10 minutes to play in the half. Nonetheless, Penn State rallied with an 8-0 run. Danny Morrissey (Cleveland, Ohio) got the spurt started with a pair of three-pointers. A no-look bullet pass from Pringle resulting in a two-handed dunk from Brandon Hassell (Farmersvill, Ohio) capped the scoring spurt as the Nittany Lions took a 23-20 lead at the 7:12 mark.
After a three-point play from Pruitt snapped the run, Battle retaliated with a deep three-pointer and a floater in the lane on back-to-back possessions, which handed Penn State a 28-23 lead with 4:31 to play in the half. That would mark the final Penn State basket of the half, as the Lions went cold for the final stages of the half. A Mike Tisdale basket and a Meacham three-pointer knotted the game at 28 as the two teams went to the locker room.
After Pruitt tallied the first point of the half at the free throw line for the Illini, Penn State rattled off eight straight points to take a 36-29 lead with 15:59 to play. Jamelle Cornley (Columbus, Ohio) had four points on the run covering 3:15.
The two teams went on a cold spell after Randle made a pair of free throws to set the score at 36-31. Illinois went the first 9:07 without a field goal to start the second half. Despite the Illinois drought, Penn State failed to capitalize on the Illini's ice cold shooting as the Lions hit a field goal drought of their own spanning 8:53.
Back-to-back baskets from Rodney Alexander and Meacham shaved the Penn State lead down to 37-35 with 10:29 to play in the game. After a Pringle connected on a free throw with 10 minutes to play, Alexander cut the Penn State lead to 38-37 with a driving lay-up from the right wing.
A Hassell lay-up on a Battle feed snapped the field goal drought of nearly nine minutes. Nonetheless, Meacham came right back for Illinois with a deep three-pointer from the left wing, which gave the Illini a 41-40 lead with 6:34 to play setting up Battle's late heroics for Penn State's 10th victory in the Jordan Center this season.
The Nittany Lions will hit the road for a pair of games next week. The road swing begins at No. 10 Michigan State on Wednesday. That game is set for a 7:00 p.m. tip on the Big Ten Network.
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