March 12, 2009
Indianapolis, Ind., March 12, 2009 - With the pressure of an NCAA Tournament bid hanging over their heads and a mostly red-clad crowd eager to cheer on its native sons, Penn State (22-10; 10-8 Big Ten) put together one of its strongest first 20 minutes of action in a month and cruised past Indiana (6-25; 1-17 Big Ten), 66-51, in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament Thursday in Indianapolis. It marked Penn State's fifth win in its last seven games as it pushes towards its first NCAA bid since 2001.
Penn State seized its first Big Ten Tournament victory since 2006 and just its second in the last eight tournaments, by jumping on the Hoosiers early with an energetic press and following the lead of senior co-captain Jamelle Cornley who played like a man possessed. Cornley scored the Lions first eight points and 13 of their first 19 as Penn State leapt to a 19-8 lead and never trailed in building as much as a 25-point margin.
The 6-5, power forward hit his first six shots in the game, including a pair of threes in the first four minutes, as he scored 16 first half points in leading the Lions to a 38-25 halftime lead. It marked Penn State's most points at the half since taking a 38-37 lead to the break over Michigan on Feb. 1. Cornley went on to score 22 points, his sixth 20-point game of the season, and added five boards in just 30 minutes as Penn State had the luxury of resting its stars in a game it controlled throughout.
The point out-put boosted Cornley's career total to 1,501 points to go with 718 career rebounds making him just the third player in Nittany Lion history to achieve 1,500 career points and 700 career rebounds. He joined Jesse Arnelle and former teammate Geary Claxton in the elite club and now stands just 41 points shy of passing Claxton for fifth all-time in scoring at Penn State.
Stanley Pringle was also huge for the Lions scoring 13 first half points and 16 for the game while hitting three treys and grabbing three steals. David Jackson played possibly his best game of the season scoring 10 points and grabbing five boards, his first double-figure outing since the second game of the season. Penn State shot 49 percent for the game, won the rebounding battle 37-29 and grabbed 10 steals.
Indiana was led by 23 points from Verdell Jones, III on 4-of-4 from three and 7-of-11 from the floor. Jones, the only Hoosier in double-figures, tried to keep IU in the game, but Penn State held the Hoosiers to 36 percent shooting and a Penn State opponent record low for the tournament of 51 points.
Penn State logged a three-game sweep of the Hoosiers on the year posting its largest-ever winning margin (15 points) over IU in winning its fourth-straight game over the Hoosiers. Penn State's 22nd victory on the season marked the second-most ever in program history behind a 25-9 campaign in 1989-90.
The Lions looked sharp and motivated right out of the gate as Cornley reeled off Penn State's first eight points, including a pair of threes, and Penn State jumped to an 8-4 lead as Indiana didn't get on the board until the 16:45 mark.
A nice baseline drive and reverse lay-up from Pringle put the Lions up 10-4 as they played their sharpest early minutes of a game in a month.
A Cornley drive and bucket and a Pringle three put the Lions up nine, 15-6, and forced an Indiana timeout with 14:23 to play in the half.
On the Lions next possession, Cornley took the ball strong to the lane was fouled and got the bucket to go for a three-point play chance. The call drew a reaction from Indiana coach Tom Crean who was hit with a technical foul. Pringle went to the line and hit one-of-two on the technical and Cornley hit his free throw to give Penn State a 19-8 lead and Cornley 13 early points. He would finish with 16 in the half, hitting 2-of-3 from the arc. Pringle had 13, also with a pair of threes, as Penn State shot 53 percent from the floor and held Indiana to 36 percent.
Talor Battle, who was scoreless in the first half, left the game for about three minutes with a slight ankle turn, but Penn State didn't miss a beat as Jeff Brooks buried a jumper and Pringle scored five straight for an 18-point Lion lead, 26-8, that forced another Indiana timeout.
Jones III kept Indiana in the game as he hit three big threes in the half and had a pair of back-to-back ones to cut the Lion lead to 27-16 with 8:20 to play. Another Jones three at the seven-minute mark cut the Penn State lead to nine, 29-20. Jones posted 15 first half points, hitting 3-of-3 from the arc, to lead Indiana.
But, Penn State responded. Pringle took an outlet pass and blew past all the Indiana defenders down the floor for a lay-up. Then, off a steal, Battle fed a flying Brooks for an alley-oop jam and the Lions led 36-21 with 2:57 to play in the half. Battle would post six assists and four steals in the game and increase his season assist total to 157, good for the sixth-best all-time at Penn State.
Penn State came out just as sharp in the second half as a Battle three, the first and only points of the game for the Big Ten's leading scorer at 17.3 ppg, and a Jackson jumper in transition put Penn State up 47-28. A Cornley jumper pushed the lead to 21. Indiana tried to get back in the game getting threes from Jones III and Matt Roth, but Penn State answered each time with Pringle draining a three and Cornley a jumper.
A pair of buckets from Jackson, one off a put-back, pushed the lead to 58-34 with 10:50 to play. Indiana got a dunk on the other end and the crowd began to rise, but Danny Morrissey put the dagger in the heart with a long three to give Penn State a 25-point lead, 61-36, with 10:18 to play.
Penn State would coast home playing its entire bench and getting valuable rest for Cornley, Battle and Pringle.
The Nittany Lions will need that rest when they take on No. 3 seed Purdue (22-9; 11-7 Big Ten) Friday at 9:00 p.m. in the second round. That game will be shown live on the Big Ten Network. The two teams split the season series with Penn State winning, 67-64, and the Boilermakers posting a 61-47 win in West Lafayette. This will be the first ever meeting of the teams in the Big Ten Tournament. Purdue leads the all-time series 21-10.