Stephens blazes off the bench providing cagers with solid play

During last night's 83-45 Penn State (9-6, 2-4 Big Ten) thumping of Northwestern (7-8, 1-5), Jarrett Stephens had a party -- a coming out party.

Stephens, who had been slumping of late, came off the bench in the first half and scored 14 points on 7 of 8 shooting in 15 minutes of play and was dominant in the paint. Those 15 minutes of dominance may have been enough for the 6-foot-6 forward to regain his early season form. That form enabled Stephens to shred opposing defenses en route to only missing nine of 30 shots during the first four Lion games.

"It's about time," Stephens said. "I felt like I was unstoppable."

The Lions must travel today to Michigan State for a key road game against the Spartans at 12:15 p.m. tomorrow in East Lansing, Mich. To Dunn, resting Stephens during a blowout is more important than minutes.

"It's not frustrating," Stephens said. "I know the reason why (I only played five second half minutes). We have another game in less than 48 hours."

Stephens has found himself coming off the bench since the Mississippi State game in the Sun Bowl Tournament on Dec. 28. But Stephens said he doesn't mind not starting, he just wants to play -- and play he did.

Since the benching, Stephens has been battling for the starting power forward position with sophomore Carl Jackson. The two agree the competition does not hamper their friendship -- it makes each of them better.

"We're the same two silly people since Carl has been here," Stephens said.

The junior got his game going with 15 minutes and nine seconds left in the first half and gave the Lions a commanding 13-2 lead.

"It certainly helps to get him going," Dunn said. "His self esteem just blossoms."

Throughout the "slump," Stephens experienced turnover problems as well. He coughed up the rock five times against Wisconsin on Wednesday to bring his season total to 32. On this near perfect night he turned it over just once.

"We can't allow them second shots," Stephens said. "We wanted to go out and play tough against this team. We don't want it to stop there."

The next stop on the Stephens tour will not only be a tough one, but a special one. East Lansing is in close proximity to his home in Ferndale, Mich. Family and friends are likely to make the trip to see him play. But Stephens would rather keep the number of fans to a minimum -- like under 10 he said.