Newcomers help end Penn State’s road skid

From CDT staff reports

EVANSTON, Ill. — Penn State guards Talor Battle and Stanley Pringle needed a few minutes to get a feel for Big Ten basketball Wednesday night, but finished the evening with satisfying conference debuts. Jamelle Cornley and Geary Claxton ensured those few minutes didn’t cost the Nittany Lions a chance to get a key road win.

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Cornley scored 22 points and Claxton scored 18 as Penn State (9-4, 1-0 Big Ten) defeated Northwestern 79-68 in Welsh-Ryan Arena, extending its winning streak to six games.

The last time the Nittany Lions had won a game away from the Bryce Jordan Center was when they defeated Northwestern in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament in 2006, and the last time they had won in an opponent’s gym was nearly a month before that, when they won at Purdue . Penn State shot 61 percent in the second half, when Battle, the freshman point guard, scored all 14 of his points. Pringle, who both backed up and played alongside Battle in the backcourt Wednesday, scored all 17 of his points over the final 27 minutes.

The pair combined to drain each of Penn State’s final eight free-throw attempts as the Nittany Lions, who were 12-of-14 from the line, survived some late hot shooting from the Wildcats.

Freshman guard Michael Thompson led Northwestern (5-5, 0-1) with 17 points. Sophomore forward Kevin Coble, making his first on-court appearance of the season after spending the fall semester at home with his ailing mother, scored 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting in 23 minutes off the bench.

Cornley, who finished 11-of-14 from the field, had 12 points, four dunks and nine rebounds at halftime. He and Claxton, who both had 11 rebounds, attacked the soft interior spots in Northwestern’s 1-3-1 zone defense all night, opening up looks from the outside for Pringle and Battle. Pringle, who had made only six of 21 3-pointers (29 percent) coming into the game, made his first three attempts Wednesday and finished 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.

Penn State coach Ed DeChellis, who had used a 10-man rotation for much of the non-conference season, shortened his bench Wednesday. Cornley and Claxton played all 40 minutes, while Battle, Pringle and freshman forward David Jackson all played at least 24.

All were instrumental during a 20-4 Penn State spurt in the first eight minutes of the second half. Claxton had six points and Battle had eight points and an assist during that stretch, which gave the Nittany Lions a 54-39 lead with 12:34 remaining. Northwestern would get no closer than 10 points until the final minutes.

A half-lob, half-shot by Thompson dropped to give the Wildcats an 18-9 lead with 11:25 left in the first half, forcing DeChellis to take a timeout. His team responded with a 14-4 run over the next six minutes, taking a 23-22 lead when Claxton banked in a runner.

Pringle drained his third 3-pointer of the half with six seconds left, but Northwestern’s Jason Okrzesik answered with a three of his own — which, like many of the Wildcats’ shots in that half, rattled home — at the buzzer to give Northwestern a 35-34 halftime lead.

Penn State will look to win consecutive road games for the first time since 1999 when it visits Illinois at 2 p.m. Sunday.