UNIVERSITY PARK — Patrick Chambers, like many head coaches, is usually in the locker room while his team is on the court for pregame warmups. Penn State’s boss decided to change things up a bit on Sunday afternoon and get a first-hand view of how his players went through the layup line.
“We have a youthful team,” Chambers said. “I just decided I got to be out there and make sure they’re preparing themselves properly for the game. I wish I would have thought of that sooner. You’re going to see that a lot more often.”
It was an attempt to foster some intensity, which Chambers had seen only in spurts from the Nittany Lions during their recent three-game losing streak. It took about a half Sunday, but
Penn State found some of that intensity in a 72-43 defeat of Mount St. Mary’s in the Bryce Jordan Center.
The Nittany Lions (7-5) got double-figure scoring from five players for the first time this season. Tim Frazier scored 15 points, Cammeron Woodyard and Billy Oliver notched career highs with 14 and 13 points, respectively, and Jermaine Marshall and Sasa Borovnjak added 10 points each. Penn State shot a modest 35 percent in the first half but made nine of its first 11 shot attempts in the second half and finished the game at 51 percent.
But what especially pleased Chambers was the defense, which limited the Mountaineers (1-9) to nine points over the final 12 minutes. The Nittany Lions had nine steals and scored 28 points off 18 Mount St. Mary's turnovers.
“We got some easy buckets in transition,” Woodyard said. “Guys seeing the ball going through the hole picked up our confidence. I feel like our defense got our offense started.”
Frazier started 0 of 5 and 1 of 7 from the field, but made four of his last six shots and, with the help of Borovnjak, gave his team a spark in the opening minutes of the second half. He fed Oliver for a transition 3-pointer, got the ball to Borovnjak for a layup and finally scored on a transition hoop after a steal by Matt Glover to extend a three-point halftime lead to 35-25.
Raven Barber scored 11 points and Chad Holley added 10 for Mount St. Mary's, which got only 13 points from its starters. A short jumper by Holley made it 45-34 with slightly more than 12 minutes remaining before the Mountaineers, who shot 36 percent from the field, went ice-cold. They scored only two points over the next nine minutes; the Nittany Lions put up 21 over the same stretch.
The Nittany Lions hadn't played since a seven-point loss at Duquesne on Dec. 10. They wrapped up final exams on Friday and have just one more game, Wednesday at home against Cornell, before the Big Ten season opens Dec. 29 at Michigan. That was one of the reasons Chambers gave his squad some extra supervision Sunday.
“Everybody’s thinking about going home, what presents you need to buy, how they’re going to get home,” Chambers said. “I’m trying to keep them (mentally) here and focused.”
That’s been the case since the first day of preseason practice, players said.
“He’s always trying to motivate us and he wants more out of us,” Oliver said. “Even if you’re playing great, he’s always trying to get that extra level out of you.”
Notes:Penn State has scored 70 or more points in five of 12 games after topping 70 five times in 34 games last season. … Frazier had eight assists Sunday, leads the Big Ten with 87 assists and and is 17 assists shy of entering the school’s career top 10 list. … Freshman walk-on Kevin Montminy, a Penns Valley alumnus, saw action for the third time this season but did not record a stat in one minute.
