By Jeff Rice
UNIVERSITY PARK — He drove through a defense that knew he would have the ball in his hands, somehow squeezed his way through an opening and tossed up the shot everyone knew he would take.
Talor Battle had made so many of these last-second shots in this building that it seemed unbelievable when this shot didn’t fall. The Penn State guard missed a driving layup just before the buzzer Saturday as the Nittany Lions fell 66-64 to Virginia Tech, snapping their nine-game home winning streak in breathless fashion.
“I definitely got a good look,” Battle said quietly after the game. “I did everything right on that play besides finish the layup.”
Battle matched his career high with 32 points on 12-of-26 shooting and made 5 of 11 3-point tries. His teammates were 10-of-39 from the field and 2-of-13 from the arc. As a team, the Nittany Lions (6-4) shot 29 percent in the second half and 34 percent on the evening. David Jackson had 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting but no other Nittany Lion made more than one field goal.
“You get to that point where you’re trying to drop the clothespin in the bottle,” Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. “You’re trying to guide it in — we said, ‘Just shoot it.’” …
Read it all: Hokies end Lions’ home streak | Penn State News | Sports – Centre Daily Times.