Claxton’s 20 Leads Penn State
State College, Pa. – January 5, 2004 – Freshman Geary Claxton (West Haven, Conn.) had a fine Big Ten debut with 20 points but the Penn State Nittany Lion basketball team dropped an 84-58 decision to No. 19 Michigan State in the Big Ten season lid-lifter for both teams.
Claxton hit five of nine field goals and ten of 14 free throws his season-best 20 points. He also had four rebounds and three blocks in the game. Michigan State, however, used a 15-4 run early in the second half to pull away from a Penn State team that had battled them tough throughout the game’s first half.
The Nittany Lions began the first half with a flourish; jumping out to an early five point lead. Aaron Johnson’s (Exton, Pa.) lay-up at the 16:18 mark had Penn State up 13-8. But the Spartans would score the game’s next five points to tie the game. Penn State would reclaim a three-point lead, 16-13, with 14:01 to play in the half, but Michigan State would go on a 9-0 run to lead 22-16 with 9:34 to play. The Spartans would stretch their first half lead to as many as 13, but Penn State would battle back to pull within ten at the break, 40-30, thanks to two Ben Luber (Richboro, Pa.) free throws.
Claxton led Penn State with ten first half points while Johnson added nine and six boards. The Nittany Lions shot .370 from the field, hitting 10 of 27 shots and were out-rebounded by MSU 21-16 in the first stanza.
Claxton scored the first bucket of the second half for Penn State, cutting the Spartan lead to eight, 40-32, only :12 into the stanza. But MSU’s Kelvin Torbert would answer with a three-pointer less than a minute later and the Spartans were off on their decisive run. Michigan would lead 55-36 with 14:07 to play. Penn State would cut the lead to as little as 15 but get no closer.
Johnson had 13 points for Penn State and a team-best nine rebounds. Freshman Brandon Hassell (Farmersville, Ohio) played a season-high 17 minutes and was second on the team with four rebounds. Hassell also had five points and a team-best two steals. The Nittany Lions shot .391 from the field (18-46) and .200 from beyond the arc (3-15) while MSU would hit 30 of 59 for a .508 mark and can 16 of 17 free throws (.941). The Spartans also out-rebounded Penn State 33-28, becoming the first team since Rutgers on Dec. 1 to out-rebound Penn State.
Penn State is now 6-8, 0-1 in the Big Ten, while Michigan State improves to 9-2, 1-0. The Nittany Lions will visit Minnesota for a Saturday night game in Minneapolis. Tip-off in Williams Arena is set for 8 p.m. Eastern and the game can be seen locally on Fox Sports Pittsburgh. Nittany Lion single game tickets can be purchased either at the Bryce Jordan Center ticket windows or on-line at www.GoPSUsports.com (click on the tickets button or the tickets tile). Single game and ticket packages can also be ordered by phone by calling 1-800-863-3336 or locally 865-5555.
Men’s Basketball vs. Michigan State
Head coach post-game quotes
Penn State’s Ed DeChellis
How happy were you with the play of Geary Claxton?
“Geary played very well. He was aggressive and took the ball to the basket. As a young guy in his first Big Ten game I think he did a great job.”
How difficult is it to coach against the depth of Michigan State?
“They have a lot of good players especially juniors and seniors. That’s why they are one of the top 20 programs. They posted our players well and we were not strong defensively. We had to take care of the ball more if we wanted to make a difference in the game.”
Talk about the comparison of the guards between both teams tonight.
“Their guards outplayed us all night. We have to get more confidence in our guards if we want them to play better.”
What comes next after this tough Big Ten opener?
“This was a tough conference opener and we run into tough teams in the next three games. It’s not the ideal situation for us but it’s where we are and we have to get ready to go out and compete with these teams.”
Michigan State’s Tom Izzo
Opening Statement
“I thought this was a game of twists and turns. We played average early on with no energy. Our team has been practicing well but that only gives you the right to play well, it doesn’t cause our team to play well.”
What was the difference between the first and second halves?
“We had good looks in the first half but couldn’t buy a bucket. We did a good job defensively all game and then we were able to shoot well and rebound well in the second half. It was a good win for us on the road.
Game Notes
- Freshman Geary Claxton had a career night in his Big Ten debut. His game-high 20 points and 10 free throws represent career bests. Claxton netted 10 points in each half.
- With a 13-point effort, Aaron Johnson extended his double-figure scoring streak to 17 games. Although he just missed another double-double with 9 rebounds, Johnson did top both teams in that category.
- Freshman Brandon Hassell established a new career high with 5 points, all in the second half.
- By converting 16 of 17 free throw attempts, Michigan State established a season best among Penn State opponents with a free throw percentage of 94.1.
- In 13 seasons in the Big Ten, Penn State has opened conference play against Michigan State three times. The previous openers were at East Lansing, Mich., on January 5, 2000, and January 3, 2001. Michigan State prevailed in the three openers.
Penn State Player Quotes
Geary Claxton
On how they respond to the result of this game
“It’s going to be tough. We have to keep working hard. We have to improve our execution and we can’t give up.”
On how they played early
“In the first half we played well. In the second half we didn’t come out like we did in the first. We need to play harder on defense and cut down on mistakes. We just have to correct those things in practice.”
On how this team can do in the Big Ten
“We can compete with anybody. We just have to come out, work hard, and give it our all.”
