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It appears the CDT traveled to the game – Ed.

Centre Daily Times | 12/04/2004 | Nittany Lions make short work of Eagles:

“UNIVERSITY PARK – If Penn State had to play a game like this — and it did — it certainly came at the right time.

“Two days after a gritty upset win at Rutgers and two before another tough test at Georgetown, the Nittany Lions overcame letdown, fatigue, minor injuries, head colds and even a little finals cramming Friday, thumping Division II visitor Lock Haven 94-46 at the Bryce Jordan Center.

“‘I thought we needed a situation where we could catch a break,’ Penn State men’s basketball coach Ed DeChellis said. ‘I really didn’t want to play Rutgers, Georgetown and Pitt back-to-back-to-back.

“‘This came at a very good time for us. We’ve got a lot of guys sick, and academically they’ve got a lot of things to do this week. So actually, it work-ed out pretty well for us.’

“Aaron Johnson led Penn State (5-2) with 24 points, 22 in the first 23 minutes, while Geary Claxton and Danny Morrissey added 14 apiece. The margin of victory was the Nittany Lions’ largest since a 102-51 defeat of Morgan State in 1992, and their four-game winning streak is their longest in two seasons.”

Centre Daily Times | Nittany Lions take on Lock Haven:

“At a coaches’ meeting after the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in April, Dave Odom of South Carolina suggested the coaches whose teams hadn’t filled up their schedules for the following season congregate in one corner of the room to see if they could work anything out.

“‘I went over because we were just about filled, but just in case,’ Penn State men’s basketball coach Ed DeChellis recalled this week. ‘It was like, everybody that you didn’t want to play all standing around in the corner. So we just adjourned and left. But there were probably 30 guys just standing around all still needing games.’

“A perplexing, frustrating and unavoidable part of college basketball, scheduling can determine which teams are in or out of postseason tournaments, build or destroy a young team’s confidence and bolster or hinder ticket sales.

“And it doesn’t always go according to plan, which explains why the Nittany Lions will entertain Division II Lock Haven at the Bryce Jordan Center at 7:30 tonight.

” ‘Scheduling is very, very hard,’ DeChellis said. ‘I don’t know what it is, but it gets harder every year.’

“DeChellis, assistant Kurt Kanaskie, director of basketball operations Eldon Price and athletic director Tim Curley are responsible for lining up about a dozen non-conference games each season. Among the many factors considered are geography, strength of the opponent, strength of one’s own team and perhaps the most important, whether or not a visit must be returned.

“Fresh off an 83-80 win at Rutgers, the Nittany Lions (4-2) haven’t played a team from a Division II school since facing Juniata in 1989, but will do so tonight because a pair of teams, which DeChellis said he was not permitted to name, stood them up.”

Centre Daily Times | Bad memories nonexistent for young Nittany Lions:

“The worst part of playing for a losing program isn’t enduring the losses. It’s being afraid to win.

“When one loss becomes 10, and 10 become 20, an unconscious level of despair sets in. Memories of defeat after painful defeat shove aside any confidence or optimism, plaguing the mind and the body. This, as much as any lack of talent, is what cripples losing teams, what allows them to lose games they can and often should win. They don’t know what to do with success if and when it ever comes along.

“So how, then, did Penn State win at Rutgers on Wednesday night? How did a team with as many painful memories as any enter one of the naton’s toughest hoop houses, spit on the floor, take the game by the throat and hold on until the final buzzer?

“Simple. These Nittany Lions don’t have those memories ….”

Lions look to continue strong play, extend winning streak to 4:

“Winning is contagious.

“The Penn State men’s basketball players and coach Ed DeChellis are hoping that the Nittany Lions have caught at least strain of the disease.

“Penn State (4-2) is on its first three-game winning streak since Nov. 26 to Dec. 12 of last season. The 83-80 win against Rutgers Wednesday night marked the first time the Lions have won on the home floor of a Big East team.

“For most of the game against the Scarlet Knights, Penn State had three freshmen on the floor.

“They were Mike Walker, Geary Claxton, and Danny Morrissey. All three played 35-plus minutes and scored in double figures, with Claxton leading the way with 17. …”

Men’s basketball finds key to success on sideline:

“With the ankle injury to Marlon Smith just three minutes into Penn State’s game against Rutgers on Wednesday night, the most integral person on the Nittany Lion team was able to show off his talent.

“Freshman Danny Morrissey, Smith’s replacement for the remainder of the Nittany Lions’ 83-80 upset over the Scarlet Knights, had an outstanding game, but the MVP, in this case, the Most Valuable Participant award, goes to Penn State coach Ed DeChellis. After playing five games of the season, two of which were home, and against less-than-challenging teams, DeChellis hauled his team to Piscataway, N.J., to face a squad that lost in the NIT Championship last year.

“The majority of DeChellis’ team has never experienced playing in the atmosphere it did against Rutgers….”

Penn State Hosts Lock Haven; Lions Coming Off Thrilling Win at Rutgers:

“STATE COLLEGE, Pa., December 2, 2004 – The Penn State Nittany Lion basketball team will host Lock Haven in a non-conference tilt on Friday, Dec. 3. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State enters the game with riding a three-game win streak and 4-2 after downing Rutgers 83-80 at the RAC. The Bald Eagles of Lock Haven come in 0-3 and have not played since an 82-51 loss at Charleston on Nov. 23. “

Penn State vs Rutgers (12/01/04 at Louis Brown Athl. Center; Piscataway, NJ):

“Official Basketball Box Score

Penn State vs Rutgers

12/01/04 7:30 p.m. at Louis Brown Athl. Center; Piscataway, NJ”

Jones:

“NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J – It’s usually foolhardy to draw season-long meaning from one early December game.

“Usually. Not always.

“What the painfully young Penn State Nittany Lions accomplished last night could have implications far into the future.

“When utterly nothing suggested it was plausible, the Lions (4-2) won against a representative Big East team in one of the toughest venues in college basketball. They beat Rutgers 83-80 in a beehive called the Louis Brown Athletic Center, affectionately known as the RAC.

“They did it with both of their starting guards essentially out for the entire game. And they did it in a fashion that suggests they will continue to fight for the remainder of their careers.

Not to get close. But to win. ”

Rutgers: Penn St. pulls an inside job on Knights:

“Just when Rutgers was getting a little full of itself — and starting to receive some attention for a couple of solid victories to start the year — the Scarlet Knights were dealt a sobering reminder last night: Their inside weaknesses can be exposed at almost any time by any team.

“That includes a Penn State team picked to finish last in the Big Ten and suddenly forced to rely on an all-freshman starting backcourt.

” ‘It’s a major shocker for us,’ Rutgers coach Gary Waters said after the Knights were dealt an 83-80 loss by Penn State at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway. ‘I don’t know if it’s a wake-up call, but it will definitely send me back to the drawing board.

‘St. Mary’s scored 50 of its 58 points inside. Charlotte scored inside. Now this. We’ve got some problems in there.’

“And the Nittany Lions (4-2) exploited all of them.

“They forced Rutgers big men Byron Joynes and Jimmie Inglis into foul trouble, then forced promising freshman forward Ollie Bailey to the bench for a prolonged stretch in the second half because

Waters was unhappy with his defense.

“The Nittany Lions scored inside with burly Aaron Johnson and they also managed to squeeze out gutsy performances from the only two guards they had available after second-leading scorer Marlon Smith was sidelined for the game with an ankle injury after just three minutes.

“With sophomore Ben Luber on leave from the team — he started the first three games at point guard — that left all of the backcourt responsibilities to freshmen Mike Walker and Danny Morrissey.

“Walker, playing the full 40 minutes, had 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Morrissey, logging a career-high 37 minutes, had 12 points and six assists.

” ‘I didn’t see this coming,’ Rutgers senior Ricky Shields said. “I don’t know if we had an aura of invincibility, but that team was prepared to win and snuck one out, just like we did at Charlotte.’ ”

Rutgers notebook: Knights know ‘D’ must step up:

“If the Big Ten’s worst team can emerge from the Rutgers Athletic Center with a victory, as Penn State did last night, what will happen when one of the league’s best teams — Wisconsin — pays a visit on Saturday?

“One has nothing to do with the other, Rutgers players vowed.

” ‘We can’t hang our heads over this loss and we won’t,’ senior guard Ricky Shields said. ‘Hopefully this opened a few guys’ eyes that we have to play better than this.

” ‘I’m not worried about a carryover effect. We can’t dwell on this. We’ll be ready for Wisconsin. You’ll see a lot better effort on defense on Saturday.’ ”

“Almost anything, it might be argued, has to be better than the defense Rutgers played in its 83-80 loss to a Penn State team tabbed to finish last for the fourth straight year in the 11-team Big Ten. “