Even though the Nittany Lions had been told what to expect, and they prepared all week for their last nonconference game of 2006, they could never imagine playing in a game like this one.
VMI came into the Bryce Jordan Center on December 30 as the nation's top scoring team, averaging 101 points per game. Defensively, the Keydets were every bit as intense, employing a full-court press against their opponents for the whole game.
"It's a game I won't forget," said former Nittany Lion forward Geary Claxton, who was the game's top scorer with a career-best 31 points. "I'd never played in a game like that, where the other team used a full-court press no matter what the score was. When you have that, things are going to be open. It was just a matter of how we took care of the ball and capitalized on the advantages with quickly scored layups."
The opportunities on offense translated to a record-breaking final score as Penn State topped VMI 129-111.
"Once we got over half-court, they were double teaming one guy, and trying to hustle back on the pass and double team the next guy, then we'd kick it up the court again, and we had a two-on-one or three-on-one situation with a layup," Claxton recalled. "That's pretty much how the game went for the 40 minutes. It was non-stop sprinting up and down the court, unless a whistle was blown, and you got to catch a little breather."
The Penn State coaching staff suggested to Claxon that he could have a career game. He did, and so did two of his teammates, as the frontcourt was a combined 33-45 for 76 points. Jamelle Cornley scored his career best with 25 points and Brandon Hassell had seven dunks and his first 20-point game.
"I remember the film sessions and the focus was on absorbing their full-court press break, making the best play and taking the best available shot," said former Nittany Lion Jamelle Cornley, who had his fifth career 20-point game that night. "We just wanted to make sure we executed. Coach Scott really stressed that once we broke the press, we would be able to get whatever shot we wanted, for us not to overthink, make the simple play, and we would be fine. Geary and Hass (Brandon Hassell) had several dunks and that kind of fueled our momentum to get solid plays."
Seven Nittany Lions posted double-figure scoring totals that afternoon with David Jackson with 13, Milos Bogetic with 11, and Danny Morrissey and Mike Walker with 10 each.
Mike Walker remembered how well the Nittany Lion coaching staff prepared the team for what they would face with VMI's 1-2-1-1 full-court press.
"We prepped most of the week just going against the press, and then once we beat the press, we'd have a 3-on-2 break, and we learned how to do that the right way and make sure we were ready," Walker recalled. "Once we got to the game, that was all it was -- open shots, layups, if we did the right thing, we got the shots we wanted."
Penn State jumped out to an early double-digit lead, but the VMI connected on six of its next eight shots, including four 3-pointers, and was suddenly trailing by only three. Then the Keydets cut the Nittany Lions' lead to just one with eight minutes left in the first half. Over the next four minutes, PSU went on a 12-2 run and went into the locker room with a 14-point lead at 62-48.
The preparation paid off and the Nittany Lions converted on nearly 60 percent of their field goal attempts for the game, shooting 70.3 percent in the second half.
"It really was fun," Walker continued. "It wasn't a grind-it-out kind of game. We weren't going against a team that was going to hold us to 50 or 60 points. This was type of basketball you love playing, where you can shoot quick, you can take a lot of open shots and you're going to get an opportunity, probably, on the next play, too."
The combined 240 points between the two teams over the two 20-minute halves averaged six points a minute.
"I felt like I was broadcasting an NBA game," said Steve Jones, the "Voice of the Nittany Lions." "Penn State really got out of the gate and I was thinking, 'this is going to be easy,' VMI kept getting closer and got it down to a point near the under eight (media timeout) and then Penn State went from up one to 15 in a blink. I had a feeling this could be a high-scoring game, and then it kept going. It turned into a track meet."
The game set the Penn State program record for points in a single game, eclipsing the mark of 110 set by a Jesse Arnelle-led 1954 team over Colgate and Bryce Jordan Center record of 105 set in 2000. The combined point total of 240 erased a Penn State record from 1965.
A school- and Bryce Jordan Center record 36 assists led to a BJC record for field goals (45). The Nittany Lions' 53 rebounds were also a BJC best while VMI added its name to the facility's record book with 19 3-point field goals and 54 3-point attempts.
In all, the high-scoring affair broke 16 records and produced tons of highlight moments and noteworthy team and individual stat lines. One basket near the end of the game provided another Penn State memory for Claxton. Walker, one of Claxton's classmates and roommates, delivered what Claxton called a "perfect" pass and he finished the alley-oop for his 1,000th career point in front of his teammates.
"Geary's probably being pretty nice saying it was a perfect pass, because with Geary, you just had to put it anywhere around the rim and he'd be able to go get it and finish the play," Walker commented. "I think I just tossed it up there and he took care of the rest."
For Claxton, known for his powerful dunks, getting his 1,000th career point on a dunk, was the exclamation point on his best game. For Penn State, the victory also gave that 2006-07 team nine nonconference wins, tying the program's high mark since joining the Big Ten.
The Nittany Lions were a close-knit group and while some breaks didn't go their way that season, they managed to surprise some opponents.
"We had a great team," Walker said. "Just thinking back to our class, Geary, Danny and Brandon, we all came in at the same time and roomed together all four years. We still do our best to stay in touch and we have a lot of great memories. Even when we had some difficult stretches, we stayed positive, showed up and played hard and got some nice wins too."
Claxton was a four-year starter who led the Nittany Lions in scoring three-straight seasons and finished his career seventh on the Penn State all-time scoring list. Following his selection to the Big Ten All-Freshman team, he helped Penn State reach 15 wins and the 2006 NIT as a sophomore.
His accolades and career numbers, though, weren't important to him.
"We had one goal in mind -- we were just trying to win ball games," Claxton said. "We were ready to come out and play every game and we wanted to be the best team we could be. We really played hard that year. Our overall record may not have shown it, but we were in a lot of close games that season. We stayed together and fought every game."
