Penn State hosts Clemson in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., NOV. 26, 2005 — As Penn State Coach Ed DeChellis said following the Nittany Lions 80-64 win over Long Island Saturday, his Nittany Lion team is in uncharted waters. Penn State improved to 3-0 for the first time since the 1999-2000 season and found themselves protecting a double-digit lead as time wound down for the second straight game. Sophomore forward Geary Claxton tallied a career-high 21 points and senior forward Travis Parker posted his third career double-double to lead Penn State in the Bryce Jordan Center.
A member of the 2005 Big Ten All-Freshman Team, Claxton struggled from the field in the first half (shooting 4-of-13) but stayed determined against a physical Long Island defense and rebounded with a 5-of-8 effort and 12 points to lead a second half surge from the Nittany Lions.
“He played strong and played hard,” DeChellis said. “He’s getting banged in there and getting wacked around, and he just needs to fight through that. I thought he did that. He played strong and hard, especially taking the ball to the basket and offensive rebounding the ball and sticking it back.”
The Nittany Lions built a 13-point lead in the first half but led just 38-32 at halftime as LIU hit four of its nine three pointers in the final seven minutes of the half. After the break Penn State shot 65.4 percent (17 of 26) from the floor to build a double-digit lead they would hold much of the final 15 minutes and extend to 19 at one point.
Holding a nine-point lead at the 6:15 mark of the second half, Penn State blew the game open with a 9-0 run to extend to a 74-56 lead with just over four minutes remaining. Claxton had four points and freshman Jamelle Cornley five of his 11 on the game (5-of-6 from the field) in the run. Claxton, Cornley and Parker all did strong work in the lane as the Nittany Lions tallied 50 points in the paint for the game. The three, all standing 6-6 and under, spent much of the second half on the floor together and combined for 30 second half points.
“We’ve got some stuff that we are going to try to run that the small line-up can be very useful for us,” DeChellis said. “I think Jamelle Cornley is a big strong, tough guy and we’ve got to get him minutes. Sometimes I think we can play the smaller guys together and do some different things defensively and offensively.”
Penn State, which entered the game leading the Big Ten in assist to turnover ratio, tallied 23 assists against 13 turnovers, surpassing 20 assists for the second straight game, and shot a season-best 56.9 percent from the field. Junior guard Ben Luber had a team-high eight assists, six points, and three rebounds.
Parker posted a season-high 18 points, equaling the second-highest total of his career, and a career-high tying 11 rebounds. Parker became the third Nittany Lion to post a double-double in the first three games.
“Travis played the way Travis can play,” DeChellis said. “He’s had a bad back. He’s finally felt pretty good the last couple of days. He was scoring inside and demanding the ball in the post. He did a good job of rebounding the ball with 11 rebounds. He played the way he needs to play for us in the Big Ten, which is strong, tough and pretty good defense.”
Claxton’s 21 points are the most by a Nittany Lion this year and surpassed his previous career-high of 20 posted against Michigan State and Ohio State last season.
The Nittany Lions hit the 80-point mark in consecutive games for the first time since beating Rutgers (83-80) and Lock Haven (94-46) on Dec. 1 & 3, 2004. The last time Penn State scored 80 or more points in consecutive games against a pair of Division I opponents was in 2000-01 (Lost to Ohio State, 93-87, and beat Michigan State, 82-80, in Big Ten Tournament).
Penn State hosts Clemson Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. The game will air nationally on ESPNU, the Penn State Sports Network and GoPSUsports.com, the official website of Penn State Athletics.
Season and single game tickets for all Penn State home games are available by calling the Penn State Athletic Ticket Office at 814-863-1000 or 800-833-5533. For groups of 10 or more, ticket discounts and preferred seating options are available by calling 814-863-6757.