State College, Pa. – January 22, 2005 – The Penn State Nittany Lion basketball team rode a strong team performance and the shooting prowess of three freshmen to a 65-62 home win over Northwestern in Big Ten basketball action. Lion rookies Geary Claxton (West Haven, Conn.), Danny Morrissey (Pepper Pike, Ohio) and Mike Walker (Lewisberry, Pa.) combined for 44 of Penn State’s 65 points; and junior Aaron Johnson (Exton, Pa.) out-rebounded the entire Wildcat team.
Walker would hit the game’s decisive shot, a three-pointer with :13 left in the game as the shot clock wound down, giving Penn State a 63-58 cushion. Walker’s shot, and two Travis Parker (Greenville, N.C.) free throws with :02 to play, helped Penn State stave off a furious Northwestern comeback attempt.
Penn State led by nine, 60-51, with 2:29 to play. Northwestern would score the game’s next seven points to cut the Lion lead to two, 60-58, before Walker’s decisive trey. Walker ended the game with 15 points, hitting five of nine three-pointers. Morrissey led Penn State with 16 points (11 in the first half) and was six of eight from the field (and four of six from long-range).
While Walker was hot in the second half and Morrissey in the first, Claxton was was steady throughout the game, posting a solid 13-point, eight rebound, three assists and one steal line. Parker, also in his first year at Penn State, had 13 points as well to go along with five boards.
While Penn State’s new faces did the scoring, it was Johnson who carried the load on the glass. The Big Ten’s leading rebounder, Johnson had 21 boards. His total was four more than Northwestern had as a team (17). Johnson was the focus of Northwestern’s defense in the paint and he scored only eight points (snapping a streak of 20 straight games in double-figures). But the junior took advantage of double and triple-teams to lead Penn State with four assists. Johnson’s 21 rebounds is a Penn State Big Ten record, snapping the mark of 18 set by Jarrett Stephens in 2000. It is also a Bryce Jordan Center single-game record. Johnson also becomes the first Nittany Lion to have three games with 20 or more rebounds in the same season since Jesse Arnelle turned the trick in 1955.
The game was close from the start, with freshman Morrissey braking out of a shooting slump in the first half, nailing three of four three-pointers for 11 points to pace the Nittany Lions. Claxton also had 11 points to go along with four boards while Johnson had 10 boards but no points.
Northwestern jumped out to an early six point lead and held that advantage (19-13) with 9:06 to play in the first stanza. Morrissey would knock down a jump shot and a three-pointer to pull Penn State to within one, 19-18, before Northwestern’s Vince Scott would knock down a trey, putting NU up 22-18 with 4:19 to play.
Morrissey would answer with another three-pointer, setting up Claxton’s go-ahead three-pointer with 2:03 to play, a shot that gave the Lions a 24-22 lead. Scott would hit another three seconds later and Morrissey would answer with :07 to play, giving Penn State a 27-25 lead. Mohamed Hachad would hit a trey at the buzzer to reclaim the lead for NU, giving the Wildcats a 28-27 lead at intermission.
For the game, the Nittany Lions shot .460 from the field (23-50) and a season-best .538 (14-26) from beyond the arc. The Lions out-rebounded NU 42-17. Northwestern shot .472 from the field (25-53) and .440 from long range (11-25).
Penn State is now 7-11 overall, 1-4 in Big Ten play, while Northwestern falls to 8-9, 1-4. The Nittany Lions will visit Ohio State on Wednesday night in an 8 p.m. game. Penn State’s next home game is next Saturday when the Lions welcome Wisconsin to the BJC for an 8 p.m. tilt.