Centre Daily Times | 01/03/2005 | Nittany Lions squander lead against Aggies:
“They have the same players, the same uniforms, the same coach. The Penn State men’s basketball team, however, continues to be two very distinct, very dissimilar entities.
“And the wrong one continues to show up at crunch time.
“One team of Nittany Lions shut down and smacked around Texas A&M; for about 18 minutes and change Sunday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center before the other team showed up, blew a 17-point second-half lead and was dealt another heartbreaking home loss, 62-60.
“Acie Law, who hit the game-winning free throws with 11 seconds remaining, and Antoine Wright scored 19 points apiece for the Aggies (11-0) and the Nittany Lions’ Marlon Smith missed a game-tying attempt with one second left as Penn State (6-7) lost for the fifth time in six games, including its third straight at home.
” ‘We played 30 minutes of basketball,’ said junior forward Aaron Johnson, who led Penn State with 16 points and 12 rebounds. ‘We didn’t finish the game out. We came out with tremendous effort, tremendous intensity, and our defense just flat-out stopped.’
“The Nittany Lions shot 64 percent and were downright stubborn defensively on their way to a 39-28 halftime lead, and a quick 6-0 run after the break stretched the margin to 17.
” ‘They totally exposed us,’ Texas A&M; coach Billy Gillispie said, ‘and just whipped us.’
“Then, as if a switch had been flipped, Penn State changed teams.”