Nov. 14, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.; Nov. 14, 2011 - Penn State (2-0) cruised past Radford (2-1) Monday night at the Bryce Jordan Center, 62-46, behind strong defense and Tim Frazier's (Houston, Texas) second career double-double. The Texas native posted 20 points and a career-high equaling 10 assists to go with six rebounds, three steals and a block in a dominating effort as Penn State won its first game in the 2011 Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-off Tournament.
The Nittany Lions will face 2011 NCAA Tournament participant Long Island Wednesday in a 7:00 p.m. tip in their second game of the Tip-off Tournament at the Jordan Center before traveling to the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut to face No. 2-ranked Kentucky on Saturday and either South Florida or Old Dominion on Sunday.
"I'm very greedy," Chambers said of Frazier's play. " I'm an old point guard, so I want more out of Tim Frazier, if you can imagine. He had 20 points, 10 assists, and six rebounds and I'm asking for more. What more means is even more leadership, even better habits. We're always trying to create the best habits we can for the most difficult situation."
Frazier, who who shot 9-of-14, was the only Lion in double-figures. Freshman Trey Lewis (Garfield Heights, Ohio) added nine points on a pair of threes and Billy Oliver (Chatham, N.J.) had eight, also hitting a pair of threes.
"They pressured me full court," Frazier said. "I don't know if they tried to wear me down. My teammates just helped me out. They made shot after shot. Jon Graham was able to finish at the hole when he was there for me and he kept making rebounds. So, they just took pressure off me."
After struggling early from the floor, Penn State hit 52 percent in the second half to finish at 45.3 percent for the game while holding Radford to 34 percent shooting for the game. Penn State won the rebounding battle 38-25, led by seven boards from Cammeron Woodyard (Westminster, Md.) who made his fourth career start.
"Coach says something everyday," Frazier said. "He says `we're not a feel good team as far as making shots. When shots aren't falling, we're going to keep playing hard because we can defend and rebound - that's our identity.' As long as we defend and rebound those shots will come and those shots will fall. We told everybody, and I told myself, just keep shooting and those shots will fall."
After a slow 0-for-6 start from the field, Penn State cut into an early 6-0 Radford lead when Jon Graham (Baltimore, Md.) fought through contact to score the first field goal of his career. He drew a foul and converted the three-point play at the line to get the Nittany Lions on the board.
Radford's Jareal Smith hit a corner three and got a put-back of a Mitchell Daniel miss to push the Highlanders' lead to 11-5 with 14:24 to play in the first half. Smith scored Radford's first 11 points of the game hitting his first three three-point attempts.
The Lions seized control from there putting together a 14-0 run over the next 8:25 to take a 19-11 lead they would never relinquish. Graham started the run with his second lay-in of the night. Lewis followed with a three from the top of the key. Frazier hit from the charity stripe and Sasa Borovnjak (Belgrade, Serbia) drove to the basket for a lay-up to get the Nittany Lions their first lead, 13-11. Frazier and Graham then alternated buckets, punctuated by Frazier's jumper at the 7:38 mark to cap the run.
Penn State later pushed the lead to 29-17 with a 6-0 run highlighted by Frazier's driving and-one lay-up. Mitchell hit a three for Radford to cap the first half scoring, but the Nittany Lions took a nine-point lead, 29-20, into the locker room as the Highlander's managed to shoot just 26.9 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
Oliver, Lewis and Woodyard opened the second half hitting three-straight buckets from behind the arc to push the Penn State lead to 38-22. Frazier assisted on all three scoring plays giving him seven assists in the game and moving him into 15th all-time on Penn State's career assists chart past Mike Walker (258, 2005-08).
With 9:51 left Frazier drove, stopped and passed out to an open Jermaine Marshall (Eters, Pa.), seeing his first action of the season after being suspended in the pre-season. Marshall drained the three to give Penn State a 50-33 lead. The play marked Frazier's 10th assist of the game giving him his second career double-double. Oliver then pushed the lead to 22 points, Penn State's largest, with a put-back with 3:55 left in the game.
"I thought we shared the ball a lot better tonight," Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said. "I thought we executed a lot better. Sometimes Radford switching up their defense dictated what we were running, but you've got to respect Tim Frazier, because if you don't, he's going to hurt you, either by shooting or getting to the foul line or lay-ups."
Marshall entered the game with 2:09 remaining in the first half. He promptly stole a Radford pass and drove to the basket, drawing a foul. The red shirt sophomore sank a free throw and later hit a three to finish with four points and a steal in 10 minutes of action.
Penn State continues a run of five games in nine days the to start the season Wednesday evening when the Lions host Long Island in a 7:00 p.m. tip at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Season tickets for Nittany Lion Basketball are $200 for adults, $170 for faculty/staff and seniors, $80 for youth (18 and under) and $59 for students. PNC Flex Books are also available again this year for $99. The Flex Book gives fans 12 vouchers, 10 that can be redeemed in any combination for Nittany Lion and Lady Lion Basketball tickets throughout the year and two extra vouchers for the Nittany Lions' Coaches Vs. Cancer game on Feb. 11 vs. Nebraska and the Lady Lions' Think Pink game on Feb. 26 vs. Minnesota.
Nittany Lion Basketball single-game tickets or group tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-NITTANY, visiting GoPSUsports.com or through Ticketmaster. Single-game tickets are $18 for the lower bowl and $15 for upper level tickets for adults. Youth tickets (18 and under) are $7 for the lower bowl and $5 for upper level seating, while Penn State student tickets (University Park or branch campus) are $5. Penn State also offers special basketball group ticket rates for groups of 15 fans or more. Nittany Lion group rates are $10 for adults and $5 for youth.
For all the latest information, notes, pictures and related links on Penn State basketball follow Associate Athletic Communications Director Brian Siegrist on Twitter (@PSUSTRETCH) and check GoPSUsports.com. The Nittany Lions are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennstatebasketball.
-NITTANY LIONS-
Penn State Men's Basketball vs. Radford Game Notes
• Penn State posted a 2-0 start for the sixth-straight season.
• The Lions improved to 66-82 all-time in in-season tournament games and posted a win in their first-ever meeting with Radford.
• Tim Frazier logged his second career double-double posting a team-high 20 points and 10 assists and adding six rebounds, three steals and a block. It marked Frazier's second career 20-point game.
• Frazier's 10 assists equaled his career high posted previously at Northwestern last year. That was also the site of his previous career double-double.
• Frazier's assist total also moved him into 15th all-time on Penn State's career assist chart with 262. He surpassed Mike Walker's total 258 assists posted from 2005-08. Frazier now stands five assists from Mike Lang in 14th place.
• Redshirt-Freshman forward Jon Graham notched a career high of seven points, four rebounds and three field goals on the night. Graham played 20 minutes in the game.
• Jermaine Marshall made his first appearance of the 2011-12 season, tallying four points and one three-point goal in 10 minutes of action.
• Penn State used a 14-point first half run and a Radford scoreless streak of 8:25 to come from an 11-5 deficit to a 19-11 lead.