Feb. 17, 2011
University Park, Pa., Feb. 17, 2011 - Penn State (14-11, 7-7) led by as many as 10 with 10:45 to play before gutting out a 66-63 victory over Minnesota (17-9, 6-8) Thursday night at the Bryce Jordan Center to move into sole possession of fifth place in the Big Ten. Senior Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) matched a career high with seven threes on the night and logged his 13th 20-point game of the season with a game-high 28 points in 40 minutes of action.
Penn State took a season-high 31 threes against a large Gopher team that played a zone defense and dominated the boards 34-22. The Lions hit 12 of those threes and committed a season-low five turnovers to improve to 6-2 in Big Ten home games and post seven Big Ten wins for just the seventh time in program history and third under coach Ed DeChellis. It marked the Lions fourth victory of the season over an RPI top 50 team.
"Our game plan was to drive and pitch," DeChellis said. "We knew we would have a hard time scoring over that front line. So, we really wanted to concentrate the last day or two on driving the ball, kicking it, reversing the basketball, shot faking them and driving them again and trying to get those back line guys moving a little bit."
David Jackson (Farrell, Pa.) added 13 points and five rebounds and sophomore Tim Frazier (Houston, Texas) continued his strong play with a career-high tying eight assists and eight points on 3-of-4 shooting (2-of-2 from three).
Minnesota got a double-double from 6-8 Trevor Mbakwe who posted 16 points and 12 rebounds and 18 from Blake Hoffarber who hit 6-of-13 from three. The Gophers shot 56 percent in the second half to nearly pull out the win. The teams combined to make 21 of 52 three-point attempts in the game.
Battle hit four of his first five attempts from the arc before finishing 7-of-14 from three as he became the first Nittany Lion to post three seasons of 500 points or more in program history. He added one assist on the night to stand six assists shy of becoming the first Big Ten player ever to log 2,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists. He will go into Sunday's game at Wisconsin with 2,043 points, 95 shy of Penn State's 56-year-old all-time scoring record.
"He's a really special player," DeChellis said. "I hope people know what they are getting to see. He's one of the best players ever to play here and he's doing things very few people have ever done at this level. I think maybe 10 guys have gotten 2,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in Division 1."
Penn State led 47-37 after a Jackson three with 10:45 to play before the Gophers put together an 8-0 run to get within two, 47-45, on an Austin Hollins three with 7:47 left. Battle stemmed the tide with a long three, but the Gophers ran off the next five points on a three from Rodney Williams and a Mbakwe lay-up to tie the game at 50 with 6:01 left.
Jackson got a big and-one lay-up after a feed from Frazier to put Penn State back up three and the Lions led by three again, 55-52, after a pair of Drew Jones free throws with 5:02 left.
Minnesota use a 7-2 run over the next three minutes to claim a three-point lead, 60-57, after a Colton Iverson lay-up, a Mbakwe lay-up and an Iverson dunk with 2:09 left.
Jones got a big offensive rebound and a put-back to cut the lead to one. Hoffarber missed a three and with the Nittany Lions trailing 60-59 with 1:12 left, Battle took a feed from senior Jeff Brooks (Louisville, Ky.) and drilled a wide open three from the wing to give Penn State the lead, 62-60, with 1:12 remaining.
From there the Nittany Lions iced away the victory finishing 4-of-5 at the line to end the game on a 9-3 run. Hoffarber hit a three with seven seconds left to cut the lead to 65-63, but Battle hit 1-of-2 at the line to rebuild a three-point lead and Hoffarber's desperation last three came up short.
Penn State went on an 11-2 run that lasted 4:35 during the second-half to build the 47-37 lead. The run was highlighted by Brooks snatching an errant pass by Iverson and tossing the ball ahead to Battle for a lay-up and a foul. Battle sunk the free throw to give the Nittany Lions a 42-35 lead with 13:10 left. Jackson capped the run when he sunk a three from the wing with 10:45 remaining.
Frazier opened the second half with a bomb from 22-feet as the shot clock ticked down to give the Lions a 32-28 lead. Frazier gave the Nittany Lions eight timely points and a big emotional lift when he was on the floor.
Penn State took a 29-28 lead to halftime despite Jone sitting for 18 minutes and Brooks for 11 of the first half after each picking up two fouls. The Lions went to their bench as 10 players saw minutes in the first half.
Penn State held as much as a six-point lead in the first half before the Gophers put together a 7-2 run, capped off by Mbakwe's lay-up with 1:49 remaining, to pull ahead 28-26. Mbakwe registered a double-double before the break, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 boards. Jackson took a feed from Frazier to hit a clutch three with 1:14 left to end the run and put the Nittany Lions ahead 29-28 going into the break with momentum.
Senior Steve Kirkpatrick (Carlisle, Pa.) took a feed with 5:40 remaining in the first half from freshman Jermaine Marshall (Etters, Pa.) and converted a lay-up. The basket was Kirkpatrick's first points in two years and the walk-on senior later added an assist on a Jackson lay-up that put the Lions up 26-21.
Kirkpatrick and reserve freshman Billy Oliver logged substantial minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. Oliver played stout defense against Minnesota's Ralph Sampson III and Iverson, allowing the duo to only score six points while he was defending the paint.
Penn State trailed 3-0 to start the game after Jones picked up two fouls in the first 104 seconds and went to the bench for the rest of the half. Brooks and Battle responded with a two and three-point basket, respectively, to give the Lions a 5-3 lead. Penn State would lead for the majority of the remaining 16 minutes of the half.
The Nittany Lions will travel to Madison, Wisc., Sunday to face No. 10 Wisconsin in a 6 p.m. (ET) tip at the Kohl Center.
For all the latest information, notes, pictures and related links on Penn State basketball follow Assistant Athletic Communications Director Brian Siegrist on Twitter (@PSUSTRETCH) and check GoPSUsports.com. The Nittany Lions are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennstatebasketball.
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