Jan. 24, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., Jan. 24, 2009 - Trailing by 13 points with eight minutes to play, Penn State turned to its relentless senior forward and undaunted sophomore point-guard and the pair delivered in electrifying fashion leading the Nittany Lions to a 63-59 victory over Iowa Saturday in front of 12,210 roaring fans at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Cornley and Batttle combined to score 26 of Penn State's final 27 points in the last 10 minutes and lead a 22-5 Penn State run to close the game. Battle ran off nine straight points, including a pair of threes, and then Cornley got 10 straight of his own, including his own three, to cut Iowa's lead to two, 59-57, with 2:53 to play. Battle then buried another three to give the Lions their first lead of the game, 60-59, and added a pair free throws to build that lead to three with 1:39 to play. The Lions held on from there as Iowa missed four shots down the stretch and Stanley Pringle rose to block a late three-point attempt before going to the line to ice the game with five seconds to play.
"Jamelle and Talor in the last five minutes, we weren't going to lose and they found a way," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "Jamelle had a big play inside. Talor had some big shots and Jamelle had an amazing rebound all in about 40, 45 seconds. Those two kids are just such competitive kids. You can't teach what they have. They have it in their hearts, and my hat's off to those two, and the other guys as well. But those two really rose to the occasion."
The victory improved Penn State to 5-3 in the Big Ten, the Nittany Lions best start since going 6-1 to start the 1996 Big Ten season. It also marked the 16th victory of the season (16-5) giving the Nittany Lions their most victories in six seasons under Coach Ed DeChellis with at least 11 games left to play.
The Nittany Lions have now won nine of their last 10 Big Ten home games, with the one loss coming to No. 7 Michigan State, and have posted their first three-game Big Ten win streak since 2001. Penn State also remained unbeaten on the year (12-0) when Cornley, Battle and Pringle all score in double figures.
"I think we've got a pretty tough group," DeChellis said. "They have a fiber that you really love as a coach, because they're never going to quit and they're going to fight you. They're the kind of kids who are going to continue to fight and play hard and see what happens and try to win the game."
Cornley posted 24 points and six rebounds on 11-of-17 shooting while playing all 40 minutes to lead the Lions, but pointed to the Jordan Center crowd as his inspiration.
"I've never been more proud of the (crowd) than I was tonight when it comes to the student section and the adults on the opposite end," Cornley said. "They played a big part in this victory because when you're down 14 point with less than six minutes in the game, you need some type of energy and that's what they provided tonight. They provided a lot of energy, and we fed off of that."
Battle added 20 points, six boards and six assists, recording his Big Ten leading 10th 20-point or better outing on the year. Pringle tossed in 11 points, four boards and three steals for the Lions. After a cold 7-of-20 start in the first half, Penn State shot 52 percent in the second (14-27) and made 6-of-14 from three in the second stanza.
Iowa was led by Jake Kelly's 19 points and Aaron Fuller's 16. The Hawkeyes shot 45.5 percent (20-44) from the floor and 23.5 percent (4-17) from the arc, one-of-seven in the second half, but were a strong 15-of-16 at the free throw line.
Iowa took a 29-22 lead to half time as Penn State struggled to find offense. When Jeff Peterson buried a jumper with 12:35 to play, the Hawkeyes had built the lead to 14 and things looked bleak for a Nittany Lion team looking to earn its first NCAA bid since 2001.
Penn State rallied as it went to a full-court press. Pringle scored five straight and then got a steal which he kicked ahead to Cornley for a dunk that got the crowd roaring and had the Lions down nine, 47-38, with 10:22 to play.
Penn State had a chance to cut the lead further when Peterson missed on the other end and Danny Morrissey had a look at a three. Morrissey missed and Penn State thought the ball went out off of Iowa. An intense Cornley said so to the officials and drew a technical foul.
Iowa used the call to score four straight and build it's lead back to 13, but Cornley and the Penn State crowd used it as motivation and seized the momentum and the moment from there.
Battle drained a three and then hit all three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt to bring the Lions within 10, 54-44. Penn State continued on an 8-0 run as Battle hit a three from the corner followed by a Cornley jumper in the lane on which he was fouled, bringing the Jordan Center to its feet with 4:45 to go. Cornley stepped to the line and converted the three-point play to cut the lead to four, 54-50.
Fuller scored for Iowa on the other end but, Cornley answered with a three-pointer from the top of the key to draw Penn State within three, 56-53, at the four-minute mark and extending a 12-2 run.
After a couple Hawkeye foul shots, Cornley hit a tough lay-up followed by a tough jumper in the paint to bring the Nittany Lions within two, 59-57, with 2:52 remaining and starting another 8-0 run. Out of the time-out, Penn State swung the ball around the floor to Battle who hit a three from the wing to give Penn State its first lead of the game, 60-59, with 2:14 to go. Battle then stole the ball from Kelly on the following possession and was fouled going to the hole. He buried both free throws for a three point lead, 61-59, with 1:39 to go.
Iowa missed a three-point attempt on the other end and Penn State patiently worked the clock down until it found Morrissey open from three. He missed, but Cornley hustled between two Hawkeyes saving the ball from going out of bounds and tossing it to Battle at the top of the key. Battle ran the clock until he was fouled. He missed at the line, but Iowa couldn't convert on the other end and Battle grabbed the rebound.
Battle was sent to the line again, but once again failed to convert. Iowa moved the ball up court quickly to Peterson who spotted up for three but was denied by Pringle who blocked the shot and then was fouled. He hit one of two to ice the win with less than four seconds to play.
Penn State ended the half with a seven-point deficit, 29-22, shooting thirty five percent (7-20) from the field and 18.2 percent (2-11) from three-point range. Cornley led the Nittany Lions with ten points hitting five of the Lions seven field goals.
Penn State missed its first seven from three in the half and had a nearly seven minute scoring drought as Iowa used an 11-0 run to build a 20-8 lead.
Cornley stopped the bleeding and sparked a 10-3 run with a fast break dunk. Pringle and Morrissey added consecutive threes to cut Iowa's lead to five, 23-18 with 5:22 left in the half. Pringle converted on two free throws after being fouled in the backcourt to cut the deficit to three, 23-20, with just under a minute remaining in the first half.
Iowa extended its lead back to seven with a Kelly jumper and two free throws with 40 seconds left. Cornley hit a 15-foot jumper from the baseline to draw Penn State within five with under ten seconds in the first half. However, a Kelly jumper at the buzzer increased the lead to seven at the half.
Penn State will get a seven-day rest before returning to action on Feb. 1 at Michigan State. The road date with the Spartans will be the first of five road games in the month of February for Penn State.