Feb. 24, 2008
Minneapolis, Minn., Feb. 24, 2008 - Penn State (12-14; 4-10 Big Ten) let another big lead slip against Minnesota (17-9; 7-7 Big Ten) Sunday afternoon in Williams arena as the Gophers used a 15-1 start to the second half to claim a 75-68 victory.
Penn State fell for the 14th time in 15 trips to Minneapolis and saw its road-losing skid extended to six games.
Junior Jamelle Cornley led Penn State with 20 points, 15 in the second half, going 8-of-9 from the free throw line. Cornley became the 28th Nittany Lion to score 1,000 points on their career and also became just the 16th to record 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds on the day.
Freshman David Jackson had a career-best game scoring 13 first half points while hitting his first three treys and going for a career-high 19 points and eight rebounds on the day. Junior Danny Morrissey hit 4-of-5 from three and scored 14 points for Penn State which committed 17 turnovers and saw its shooting percentage cut in half in the second half shooting 63 percent in the first 20 minutes and just 31 percent in the second 20.
Minnesota had four players in double-figures led by Lawrence Westbrook's 15. Lawrence McKenzie added 11 on 3-of-12 shooting and Dan Coleman and Blake Hoffarber had 10 each as Minnesota shot 58 percent in the second half outscoring the Lions 40-31 in the second 20 minutes.
Penn State came out of the gate shooting well and posted a season-high 63 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes as they hit 6-of-9 (66.7%) from three and got a career-high 13 first half points from Jackson who hit 3-of-3 from the arc and 5-of-6 from the floor. Penn State took as much as a 13-point lead, but nine turnovers and 11 offensive boards helped keep Minnesota in the game. The Gophers eventually mounted a charge despite hitting just 38 percent from the field in the half. After an early 10-7 Minnesota lead, Penn State used back-to-back threes from Jackson and a pair of buckets from Morrissey, one from three, for an 11-0 run and an 18-10 Nittany Lion lead with 10:43 to play in the first half. Another Jackson three stretched the lead to 21-12 as Penn State started 8-of-11 from the floor.
Back-to-back threes from Morrissey and Mike Walker opened up as much as a 13-point lead for Penn State, 31-18, with 6:45 to play in the half, but Minnesota responded with four threes down the stretch to eventually tie the game.
The Gophers got back-to-back threes from Damian Johnson and Hoffarber to spark what would become a 10-1 run and got within four, 32-28, on a three from McKenzie.
A three-point play from Cornley, who got the bucket and a foul from Jon Williams on a drive after a scramble, stemmed the Gopher tide briefly, but Minnesota kept coming with back-to-back baskets from Spencer Tollackson and another three from Hoffarber to tie the game, 35-35, with 36 seconds remaining in the half.
Penn State worked the clock on its last possession and got a spinning, fade away from Stanley Pringle to retake a 37-35 lead at the half.
Minnesota seized control in the second half using a 15-1 run in the opening five minutes to take a 50-38 lead. Minnesota scored the first 11 points of the half, until Penn State finally broke the string with a free throw from Cornley. Cornley had all of Penn State's points for the first 14:50 of the second half as the Lions managed just two field goals, both from Cornley, in the first 13 minutes.
Cornley got the Lions first field goal of the half at the 14:12 mark to cut the Gopher lead to 10, 50-40. The 6-5 forward scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half as he battled on a banged up knee to keep the Lions in the game.
A pair of Cornley free throws and a Cornley basket got Penn State within eight, 52-44, but Hoffarber answered with a three for Minnesota.
The Gophers eventually built the lead to 13, 65-42, after a pair of Coleman free throws with 4:42 to play.
Penn State then put together a 12-1 run using a three-guard line-up and Cornley and Jackson to cut the Minnesota lead to two, 66-64. A pair of Morrissey threes capped the run, the last coming with 3:30 to play.
Minnesota answered with a pair of buckets to rebuild the lead to six, 70-64. A Cornley bucket got Penn State back within four and Minnesota called a timeout. The Gophers turned the ball over on five-second call on the inbounds, but Penn State failed to capitalize turning the ball over.
The Lions fouled Al Nolen on the next possession and he made on of two and then Jackson was fouled on the other end while attempting a three. Jackson hit 2-of-3 to cut the lead to 71-68 with 32 seconds to play. Jackson fouled on the next play and Westbrook went to the line and hit both free throws. Penn State turned the ball over on the next possession and Westbrook again went to the line to ice the game.
Penn State will return to the Jordan Center on Wednesday as they begin a two-game homestand vs. Iowa in a 7:00 p.m. tip on the Big Ten Network. The Nittany Lions and Hawkeyes will be battling for seeding at the Big Ten Tournament the second week of March.
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