Dec. 7, 2013
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - All five starters turned in double figure scoring efforts as the Penn State men's basketball team downed Marshall, 90-77, on Saturday evening at the Bryce Jordan Center. Junior Ross Travis (Chaska, Minn.) and sophomore Donovon Jack(Reading, Pa.) set the pace for the Lions, tallying 20 and 18 points, respectively.
Jack entered Penn State's single-game record books after blocking a career-high seven shots, which ties Calvin Booth's (Bradley, 1999) effort for 10th all-time. The forward also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds in the win while Travis tacked on six boards and two assists.
D.J. Newbill (Philadelphia, Pa.) posted his 25th consecutive double figure scoring performance with 17 points to go along with seven rebounds, Tim Frazier (Houston, Texas) flirted with a double-double with 11 points and nine assists and Brandon Taylor(Tabernacle, N.J.) added 10 points for the PSU offense.
Penn State improves to 7-3 on the year with just three games remaining before the Big Ten opener vs. Michigan State and Marshall falls to 4-5 this season. The Nittany Lions shot 48.5 percent (33-of-68) from the field, hit 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from three-point range and 81 percent (17-of-21) from the free throw line. PSU out-rebounded Marshall 47-40, turned in 20 assists to the Herd's 11 and outscored MU 48-30 in the paint.
Redshirt freshman Kareem Canty led the way for the Herd, posting a game-high 28 points to go along with five assists. Senior Elijah Pittman and junior Shawn Smith also scored in double figures, tallying 10 points apiece. MU shot 39.2 percent (26-of-66) from the floor, 45 percent (9-of-20) from beyond the arc and 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from the charity stripe.
The Lions jumped out to an 11-1 lead to start the contest. Frazier opened up the scoring with a fast break layup less than a minute into the game. Newbill followed with a pair of jumpers, Frazier added a three and Taylor tacked on a layup to cap the streak. Marshall's Chris Thomas notched The Herd's only tally of the first three minutes, draining a free throw in the second minute of action.
Marshall put up four quick points on a Canty jumper and a Pittman layup to bring the score to 11-5. Travis hammered in a dunk to give the Lions 13 points before Pittman and Canty added another six points to cut the deficit to two.
The Herd did not stay within striking distance for long as the Lions extended their lead to nine points just one minute later. A 21-8 run put Penn State up 44-25 with just under four minutes remaining in the first half. Two treys and two dunks by Jack and Newbill and a three pointer from Travis highlighted the streak for the Nittany Lions. Penn State tacked on three points while Marshall added seven to put the count at 47-32 at the intermission.
The Blue and White continued to dominate in the second half, running their lead up to 21 by the 15:57 mark. A pair of free throws from Newbill gave Penn State its largest lead of the game five minutes later at the Lions went up 70-43 with 10:35 remaining in the contest.
The Lions maintained at least a 20 point lead until MU's Smith delivered a three pointer to bring the Herd within 18. Marshall tallied three additional treys in the last 90 seconds to put the final score at 90-77.
The Nittany Lions hit the road on Wednesday as they travel to Pittsburgh to face in-state rival Duquesne. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. at the CONSOL Energy Center. Penn State returns home next Saturday for the Return to Rec Hall game vs. Princeton.