Nov. 30, 2009
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. - Talor Battle dominated the second half and the Nittany Lion basketball team (5-2) posted a Big Ten record third-straight victory in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge Monday as Penn State downed Virginia, 69-66, in Charlottesville, Va.
Battle scored 28 second half points on his way to a career high 32 in the game as the Nittany Lions overcame a 10-point second half deficit to lead by as many as 12 in the second half before holding on late. After struggling to shoot 34 percent in the first half, Penn State hit at a 53.8 percent clip in the second half while reeling off 48 points to win for the first time in four trips to Virginia. It marked Penn State's second road win in its three-game Challenge win streak.
Battle posted the first 30-point game for a Nittany Lion since Geary Claxton logged 31 vs. VMI in 2006. Battle's 28 second-half points were the most ever scored by a Nittany Lion in the second half of a game. Battle hit 9-of-15 from the floor and 5-of-9 from three to move past Jeff Persson (1,090) and Bob Weiss (1,091) into 19th all-time at Penn State in scoring with 1,094 points. Freshman guard Tim Frazier added 11 points and team high five assists and the Lions got a career-high nine rebounds and eight points from Jeff Brooks and seven boards each from Andrew Jones and David Jackson to improve to 4-5 in Challenge games.
Virginia was led by 18 points from Sylven Landesberg and 17 from Mike Scott. Guard Sammy Zeglinski made a handful of late threes to end with 16 points and nearly pull out the win for Virginia, which fell to 4-3 in coach Tony Bennett's first season.
Penn State overcame a six-point halftime deficit behind a 13-2 second half surge led by Battle and Frazier. The pair combined to score all of the Lions' points in the run. A Battle three followed by a Frazier steal and lay-up gave Penn State its first lead 30-29 and forced a UVA timeout with 16:34 to play. Penn State took a 34-29 lead after a Frazier jumper with 15:08 to play.
Battle fed Jones for a dunk and then buried another of his five threes in the half to give the Lions a 41-34 lead. The Lions built it to 10 when Brooks converted a three-point play and led 44-34 with 12:18 left.
UVA got back within six following a Scott spin move and finish, but Battle buried a 25-foot three from the top of the key to quiet the crowd. Freshman Bill Edwards finished on a dish from Brooks and the Lions led 49-38 with 7:41 left.
After UVA pulled within eight, Battle hit two more threes and Penn State had its biggest lead of the game, 55-43, with 3:56 to play. Just when it looked like the Lions might cruise home, Zeglinski hit the first of his three treys in the closing minutes to spark UVA. Chris Babb answered with a pair of free throws for the Lions. The teams traded fouls and scores until back-to-back threes by Landesberg and Zeglinski pulled UVA within four, 60-56, with 1:18 to play.
Battle hit a pair at the Line to make the margin six, but Zeglinski hit another deep three to get UVA within three with 45 seconds left. UVA again send Battle to the line and he hit a pair, but Jackson fouled Landesberg on the other end and the Cavalier hit both at the line to make it 64-61 with 24 seconds to play.
The Cavaliers fouled Frazier and the freshman hit both shots at the line to rebuild the lead to five. Zeglinski missed on the other end and the UVA again sent Battle to the line, but he missed both. Frazier then fouled Zeglinski and he hit both to get back within three.
UVA again sent Battle back to the line, where he made one of two. UVA raced down the floor and Zeglinski fired again hitting a deep three to cut the lead to one, 67-66, with five seconds remaining. Landesberg held Battle on the in-bounds and again sent him to the line for a pair. This time the junior hit both for a 69-66 lead. Zeglinski's desperation three went wide and the Lions walked off victors.
Penn State trailed by just six, 27-21, at the half despite shooting just 34 percent from the floor to UVA's 48 percent. Seven Nittany Lions scored in the half, but none more than five points. Jeff Brooks led the way with five points, including the Lions lone three in the half (1-6), despite sitting the last several minutes after picking up his second foul.
Virginia opened up as much as a 10-point lead in the half behind 12 strong points from Scott, on 6-of-6 shooting, and seven from Landesberg. UVA jumped out to an early 9-4 lead as Penn State hit just 4-of-14 to start. Brooks' three with 11:59 to play cut the lead to 11-9. Battle tied the game, 13-13, on a driving lay-up at 10:07, but back-to-back baskets by Scott reopened a four-point margin for the Cavs.
A three by Jeff Jones opened the lead to seven as UVA ran off seven-straight. Penn State got a jumper from Tim Frazier and a pair of free throws from Chris Babb to trail 20-17, but UVA ran off another 7-0 run finished by a Scott bucket to take a 27-17 lead. Penn State scored the last four points of the half, the last two coming after Frazier poked the ball away and pushed up the floor with Battle with the junior finishing with a kiss off the glass.
Penn State will wrap up a string of five of six games away from the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday when it takes on Temple in a 4:00 p.m. tip at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia. Temple owns a 58-32 lead in the series and posted a 65-59 victory at the Jordan Center last season for is fifth straight win against the Nittany Lions.