Feb. 2, 2009
BATTLE NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., Feb. 2, 2009 - Nittany Lion point-guard Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) has been putting together a season worthy of Big Ten Player of the Year consideration and the nation is starting to take notice.
Coming of a career-high 29-point performance in Penn State's 72-68 upset win at No. 9 Michigan State on Sunday and a 20-point outing in a victory over Iowa last Saturday, Battle was named CollegeHoops.net's National Player of the Week (http://www.collegehoopsnet.com/talor-battle-collegehoopsnet-player-week-164923). Battle joins previous weekly winners such as national standouts Jodie Meeks (Kentucky), Jeff Teague (Wake Forest), Stephen Curry, (Davidson), Jonny Flynn (Syracuse) and Blake Griffin (Oklahoma).
The Big Ten leader in scoring (19.0 ppg) and assists (5.3 apg), Battle made 6-of-12 threes on the game and scored 13-straight points in the first half to help bring Penn State from 13 down to the lead at halftime of the Nittany Lions' victory at Michigan State. He shot 11-of-19 for the game and added five boards and three assists while guiding Penn State for all 40 minutes of its first ever victory in East Lansing. The 29-point outing marked his Big Ten leading 11th 20-point game of the season. Battle is also tied for the Big Ten lead with 65 threes on the year and ranks in the top 11 of eight conference statistical categories.
In Penn State's come-from-behind victory over Iowa, Battle helped the Lions come from 14 down with 11:30 to play running off nine-straight points and combining with senior Jamelle Cornley to score 26 of the Lions' last 27 points in the game. Battles three with 2:14 to play gave Penn State its first lead of the game. He posted 20 points, six boards and six assists in the 63-59 victory.
Penn State's victory over the ninth-ranked Spartans improved the Nittany Lions to 17-5 on the season and 6-3 in the Big Ten. Penn State stands tied for third in the conference mid-way through the Big Ten season and is riding a four-game Big Ten win streak, its longest since 1996.
The Nittany Lions will play at Michigan on Thursday in a 7:00 p.m. tip on the Big Ten Network before returning home on Sunday, Feb. 8 for a 3:00 p.m. match-up with Wisconsin.
Nittany Lion basketball tickets can be purchased by calling the Penn State ticket office during regular business hours at 814-865-5555, visiting GoPSUsports.com anytime, or calling Tickmaster toll free at 800-745-3000.