By Kevin Wesley
It was the rarest of sights: a conference win in which Penn State hardly seemed to break a sweat.
How easy was it? Talor Battle, whose 37.3 minutes per game put him among the national leaders in that category, sat on the bench for the final 4:28 of the first half against Northwestern Sunday afternoon, and again for the final 2:08 of the game.
When he went to the bench for the last time — by which point the outcome had long since been decided— he exited to a standing ovation from the Bryce Jordan Center crowd, which earlier in the afternoon had watched Battle score the 2,000th point of his career. Afterward, Battle seemed uninterested in becoming just the second Nittany Lion to reach that plateau. All he cared about was the win, and what it signified.
On Sunday, the Penn State basketball team got its groove back.
“To win convincingly like this is big,” Battle said after the Lions’ 65-41 victory. “I’m sure it gives a lot of people confidence, and hopefully we carry this momentum into the next game.”
Momentum had eluded the Nittany Lions for nearly two weeks, staying firmly with their opponents in a pair of lopsided road losses at Illinois and Michigan State, a frustrating home loss to Michigan squeezed between them. Penn State came into Sunday’s game desperate to reclaim it, knowing the first of their final half dozen Big Ten games was also the most winnable.
“There’s games on your schedule you have to have, especially when you stub you toe like we have the past three games,” Coach Ed DeChellis said. “You have to come back, and you have to win.”
It helped that the Wildcats are the one team DeChellis’ squads have dominated, and against whom Penn State has had the most success since joining the Big Ten. It helped even more that this Northwestern squad, which came in clinging to its own long-shot NCAA tournament hopes, picked Sunday to have the worst shooting game of its season. Ultimately, though, it came down to the Lions—all of them—defending well and making shots.
The group effort was in full effect.
Battle led the way with 19 points (on seven of nine shooting), three rebounds, two assists and two steals, a solid all-around effort that DeChellis singled out after the game, noting that Battle had to be carried off the court Friday after turning his ankle at practice. Just 48 hours earlier, DeChellis wasn’t sure if his star would be able to play. But Battle did, drawing within 123 points of the school’s career scoring mark.
On Sunday, those points came with some swagger, a couple of Battle’s trademark long-range threes alternated with daring drives to the hoop. He also tried an alley-oop to classmate Jeff Brooks that the dynamic forward couldn’t quite finish, but even in failure, it was another moment indicative of the Lions’ renewed confidence. Brooks dunked on a baseline drive on which he seemed likely to settle for a layup. Sophomore guard Tim Frazier added some flash to his dribble drives. It had, particularly when the Lions extended their lead to 20 points early in the second half, the feel of a team of friends dominating on the playground.
The friends weren’t just flashy, either. Brooks, in his second game back from a dislocated shoulder, totaled 14 points, five rebounds and a pair of blocks, his defensive presence disrupting opposing shooters near the basket as it has all season. Frazier went for 12 points — most of them from the line — and seven assists, and David Jackson added 11 points and eight boards. This team, with contributions and energy from all over the floor, is the one that has Penn State fans hoping an NCAA tournament berth is still within reach.
Speaking after the game, Penn State’s new 2,000-point scorer said, “I’d trade every one of those points to play in the NCAA tournament.” There’s no doubt Battle means it. If the Lions can match Sunday’s team effort over the next three weeks, he’s still got a chance.
Earlier Coverage
