Nov. 23, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.; Nov. 23, 2011 - Junior guard Tim Frazier (Houston, Texas) registered his third double-double of the season to lead the Penn State basketball team to a 82-71 victory over Youngstown State (3-1) Wednesday at the Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State remained unbeaten at home on the year and improved to 5-1 on the season and 33-4 against non-conference opponents at home in the past five seasons.
Frazier led the Nittany Lions with 26 points, just one shy of his career high, and added a career-best 11 assists, which tied the eighth-best game total in program history, as he shot 8-of-11 from the floor for his fourth 20-point game of the season.
"It's crazy for me to even say this, but I want him to be more selfish," Penn State coach Patrick Chambers said. "Sometimes, when he turns it over, he just feels like he has got to get everybody involved, and he does that anyway. He has got to keep attacking. He has been really working on his jump shot and he was 2-for-2, I think, from three tonight, which was great. He's so fast and so quick. I think we shot the ball well, because he is kicking out and these guys are open because they've got to worry about Tim Frazier.
Freshman Trey Lewis (Garfield Heights, Ohio) and senior Cammeron Woodyard (Westminster, Md.) also scored in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Four Nittany Lions totaled five rebounds each. Nine Penn State players scored in the game.
Penn State shot 56.5 percent from the floor, its best shooting of the season and equaling the team's best mark from last year. The Lions hit a season-high 11-of-22 (50%) from behind the arc for their best three-point average of the 2011-12 campaign. The Lions broke the 80-point mark for the first time since posting 81 points in a win over Northwestern in February of 2010. The Lions won the rebounding battle, 35-26, and got 30 points off their bench, led by 12 from Lewis and eight from Jermaine Marshall (Etters, Pa.).
Youngstown State, which trailed by as many as 21 points in the first half, used 10-of-15 shooting from three in the second half to get as close as nine on three occasions. The Penguins were aided by a season-high 18 turnovers from Penn State and outstanding three-point shooting from YSU guards Blake Allen and Kendrick Perry. Allen hit 7-of-12 from the arc for 25 points and Perry added 5-of-8 from three for 23 points to lead a Penguin team that shot 14-of-27 (51.9%) from three for the game.
"I would say those two kids are pretty good," Chambers said. "I knew they were better than that in the first half. I watched those guys on tape. They were really talented. They can really shoot the ball. That's the same team that beat a good Butler team last year in February. We didn't take them lightly at all."
The Nittany Lions, who entered the game shooting 28.9 percent in the first half on the season, hit 60 percent from the field, including 7-of-10 from behind the arc, in the first 20 minutes to take a 44-26 halftime lead. Leading by eight, 26-18, with 8:01 to play in the first half, Penn State used a 10-0 run to take a 36-18 lead. Frazier hit a three and a lay-up in the run and Lewis converted a driving three-point play.
A YSU three from Ashen Ward got the Penguins within 15, but Penn State put together another 8-2 run capped by a Frazier steal and lay-up to finish the half outscoring YSU 18-8.
A pair of Perry threes and a couple of jumpers from Damian Eargle got the YSU offense moving to start the second half as the Penguins got within 12, 50-38, with 15:55 to play. YSU hit five treys in its first eight buckets to make it a game. Penn State kept the lead at double-digits until Perry hit another three and then two at the foul line to get YSU within nine, 58-49, with 11:31 left.
Penn State pushed the lead back to 14 on a Ross Travis tip-in. Frazier hit Travis with a 40-foot pass for an alley-oop dunk. Travis was fouled on the play and hit one at the line to keep the Lions up 14, 68-54, with 6:01 left. The margin stayed above 10 until Blake hit a long three with 50 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 77-68. Penn State hit 5-of-6 at the line to close out the game.
Penn State will enjoy Thanksgiving together in State College before returning to action on Saturday with a 3:30 p.m. tip at Saint Joseph's Hagan Arena. 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.
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Penn State vs. Youngstown State Post-Game Notes
• Penn State scored 82 points in the game, its first time eclipsing the 80-point mark since posting 81 in a victory over Northwestern in February of 2010. It was the Lions' most points in a game since posting 104 vs. Gardner-Webb on Dec. 19, 2009.
• Penn State remained unbeaten at home and improved to 33-4 vs. non-conference teams at home in last five years
• Tim Frazier posted a career-best 11 assists in the game, tying the eighth-best game mark in Penn State history. It marked his third game this season with double-digit assists. He leads the Big Ten averaging 7.3 assists per game.
• Tim Frazier posted his third double-double of the season (fourth career), and the third of the season with at least 20 points and 10 assists. Frazier posted 26 points and 11 assists, marking his fourth 20-point game of the season and the fifth of his career. Frazier hit 8-of-11 (72.7%) from the field.
• Penn State shot 15-25 (60.0%) from field in first half on its way to 56.5 percent for the game. It marked a season high field goal percentage and equaled the Lions high water mark from last year shot in a victory over Northwestern.
• Penn State shot 7-10 (70.0%) from three in first half on its way to a season-best 11-22 (50%) from the arc. Penn State's 11 threes marked a season high.
• Nine Nittany Lions scored in the game and Penn State got 30 points off the bench.
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