Dec. 21, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; Dec. 21, 2010 - Coming off an eight-day lay-off during University finals, the Penn State basketball team couldn't find its shot and ran up against a hot shooting Maine team that brought a three-game win streak into the Bryce Jordan Center on Tuesday. The result was a 74-64 defeat at the hands of a Black Bear team that shot 52 percent from the floor and 58 percent from three.
"I thought this team (Maine) would give us a battle because they could make shots," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "It wasn't a team that couldn't score. Anytime a team can score and make shots, you have to do a good job defensively and we just didn't do that. You can't let a team come in and shoot 52 percent from the floor - 58 percent from three. If a team can shoot 58 percent from three, that's challenging."
Penn State fell to 7-4 on the year as the Lions struggled against a combination of 1-2-2 half court press and 2-3 zone presented by a patient and methodical Maine team. Penn State hit just 38 percent from the floor and 7-of-23 from three over the zone as Talor Battle logged 26 points on 4-of-7 from three and David Jackson added 18 on 7-of-17 from the floor, but no other Lion scored more than six.
"I though DJ (David Jackson) and Bubby (Talor Battle) tried to get us where we need to get to and we didn't have much else," DeChellis said. "That's the disappointing thing. Preparation wise, we knew Terrance Mitchell was a catch-and-shoot guy - Burnatowski is a catch-and-shoot guy. So, for three days it was get up and make them dribble, don't let them catch and shoot. That's what I'm talking about with focus and understanding what we are trying to do."
For Battle, it marked his Big Ten leading seventh 20-point or better game of the season and the 37th of his career as he continued his pursuit of the Nittany Lions 55-year old career scoring record of 2,138 points set by Jesse Arnelle in 1955. Battle, who injured his left hand late in the game and had it X-rayed after the game, will enter Big Ten play with 1,753 career points.
The Black Bears (6-5), who played nine players 14 minutes or more, were led by 20 points from 6-7 forward Murphy Burnatowski who hit 5-of-7 from three and 17 points from Terrance Mitchell who hit 4-of-6 from three. Maine won the rebounding battle 35-27 and held a comfortable lead for most of the second half despite committing 19 turnovers.
Maine, and in particular Burnatowski, came out hot hitting 52.6 percent from the floor and 6-of-11 (54%) from three to take a 31-24 half time lead. Burnatowski paced the Black Bears with 14 first half points while hitting 4-of-5 from the arc.
Jackson paced Penn State with 11 first half points. The Lions got beat on the glass 15-8 in the first half and trailed despite helping cause 10 Maine turnovers in the half. Penn State committed seven turnovers of its own and shot 43 percent and just 2-of-8 from three.
The Lions got seven straight points from Jackson to take an early 11-8 lead. Jackson hit a three, got a short jumper and then a lay-up after a nice offensive board and pass from Billy Oliver.
Maine retook the lead, 13-10, on a three from Mitchell, but Battle followed with a three of his own. Maine then went on a 9-4 run to open a 22-18 lead following back-to-back threes from Burnatowski.
Tim Frazier got a steal and a length of the court lay-up to draw Penn State back within two, but Maine closed the half on a 9-4 run. Burnatowski's final three of the half gave the Black Bears a 29-22 lead. Jackson got a pair of free throws to cut the margin, but Maine finished the scoring with a lay-up from Andrew Rogers.
The Bears pushed their lead to 10 with a three from Gerald McLemore two minutes into the second period. The Lions made a run, outscoring the Bears 7-2 over the next three minutes behind five points from Battle. The last of those came on a three to get Penn State within five, 38-33, with 14:56 to play.
Battle had another look at a three to cut the lead to two, but missed and Troy Barnies got a lay-up on the other end. Four straight points from Jackson had the Lions down six, 43-37, with 12:59 to play, but Maine scored the next six points, including a Mitchell three, to take a 49-37 lead with 10:52 to play.
Oliver hit a three to get the lead back to single digits, but the Lions went the next 2 ½ minutes without a field goal as Maine built a 15-point lead, 56-41, following another Barnies lay-up with 7:46 to play.
The Bears would keep a double-digit margin until a Battle three-point play after an assist from Taran Buie cut the lead to 63-56 with 3:22 to play. Penn State would get no closer missing five straight shots over the next two minutes as Maine pushed its lead back to 12, 68-56, with 1:39 to play.
A Jermaine Marshall steal and feed to Battle for a dunk got Penn State back within seven, 68-61, with 1:20 to play and the Lions were within seven again after a Marshall free throw with 1:06 left, but Maine scored five straight at the foul line to end any threat and leave with the victory.
Penn State will get five days off for the Holiday's before opening Big Ten play on Dec. 27 at Indiana. The Lions are 1-15 all-time in Bloomington, winning their first-ever game there in 2009, 65-55. Indiana leads the series 28-7 and currently owns a 9-2 mark on the year. The Hoosiers posted a 67-61 victory in State College last year in the team's lone meeting. The Dec. 27 game will be the only meeting in the regular season this year for the teams.
- Nittany Lions -