Jan. 6, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" Counterpunch is a new fixture in the vocabulary of the Nittany Lion basketball team.
Head coach and Philadelphia native Patrick Chambers loves to use boxing analogies with his team to help teach them lessons of how to fight through adversity, much like the circumstances on Tuesday night in the Big Ten home opener against Minnesota.
The Lions and Gophers were tied at 60-60 with 9:37 to play after Brandon Taylor drained a jumper in the paint. Minnesota answered with four-straight points, but Payton Banks, who had a hot hand all night en route to a career-high 24 points, answered with a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game 8:12 to go.
But the Gophers logged the next seven tallies to claim an eight-point lead (71-63) with just 6:06 to play. This sequence came after the Lions had already erased an eight-point Minnesota lead earlier in the half thanks to a 10-0 run fueled by Shep Garner, who finished with 20 points.
The second Minnesota surge put the Lions on the ropes.
Staring at an eight-point deficit for the second time in 10 minutes, the Lions found a way to punch back.
Two Davis Zemgulis free throws ignited a game-clinching 16-0 onslaught that fueled the Lions to a nine-point victory, 86-77, and their largest point total in a Big Ten game since 2001.
"We had to do a lot of counterpunching because we were on the ropes a lot until the end," said Chambers. "It was then we got back in the middle of the ring and competed. It was nice to see that. I was proud of these guys. Truthfully, there was an elephant in the room being that the last three years we haven't won a game until late January, early February. For these guys to be able to step up and overcome that 'woe is me' mentality was terrific. Our huddles at the end, we very engaged. Everyone was ready to attack and that is what we needed."
Penn State roared down the stretch on both ends of the floor. The Lions scored 23 points in the final 6:06, but equally as impressive, held Minnesota to just six tallies and 1-for-8 shooting in that span, which included a scoreless stretch of 5:16.
The complexion of the game changed when Coach Chambers called a 30-second timeout when the Gophers took their second eight-point edge.
"Coach got on us, he told us 'pick it up.' That is the phrase he always says, 'pick it up,' 'be ready to play.' From there, he usually can get us going someway, somehow," said Garner. "Coach gets us going, our leaders get us going, Brandon Taylor, Payton Banks, myself, Coach, we get each other going, and today that paid off for us."
The Nittany Lions were terrific in the second half on the offensive end of the floor. Penn State shot 62 percent from the field (16-26) and 75 percent from the foul line (18-24) in the final 20 minutes. Banks, Taylor and Garner combined for 39 of Penn State's 54 second-half points. The last time Penn State scored 50-plus in a half was in 2013.
The closing stages of Tuesday's game boiled down to the team's confidence level. Penn State did not let a 0-2 start to the Big Ten season impact their ability to make plays down the stretch when things got tough. The team has taken the season one day, one game and one practice at a time. And it showed when the group's back was against the wall.
"There is a lot to build on. We got better today but a lot to work on," said Chambers.
Focus now shifts towards a matchup against No. 5 Michigan State. The Lions host the Spartans on Sunday at noon (BTN) on Coaches Vs. Cancer day in the BJC.