"I've never had a guy have 24 rebounds," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said afterward on the Penn State Radio Network. "He's going to the glass and I thought we did a great job rebounding the ball again."
Johnson also broke two BCA Classic records in the process: The 24 rebounds were a single-game record and his two-day total of 34 already topped the previous three-game record of 29.
Sophomore guard Ben Luber was quick to joke about the accomplishment.
"I think Aaron boosted his stats by missing those lay-ups on purpose, [he] tried to kill my assists," he said with a laugh.
The game was drastically different from Penn State's 82-73 loss to Illinois State on Sunday. Unlike the regular season opener, the Lions were able to take a lead into the second half and build on it, rather than let the Catamounts back in the game.
"[Sunday] we kind of took the lead for granted and slowplayed it, we didn't have any aggression in the second half," Luber said. "We came out a lot stronger, a lot tougher and we had the will to win today."
Leading the charge for the Lions was the play of freshman guard Danny Morrissey. After the Cats took an early lead, the Ohio native came off the bench and quickly turned the momentum in Penn State's direction. Ten minutes into the half, he hit three in a row from behind the arc to give the Lions a 30-23 edge in just over a minute of play.
"He's a really good shooter, I don't think I've done a very good job of getting him enough shots," DeChellis said. "I thought [Morrissey] and Mike Walker came in and really played very well together and gave us a really good boost. ... It was a pretty tight game and all of the sudden, bang, bang, we were up [seven], and that's what those young kids can do."
Morrissey led the team with 16 points in the game, shooting 6-of-10 from the field and 4-of-6 from the outside.
Penn State was unable to avoid the injury bug, as freshmen Geary Claxton and Brandon Hassell suffered ankle injuries. Claxton's injury was the less serious of the two, as he still played 19 minutes and put up 10 points. DeChellis was optimistic that the Big Ten Player of the Week could play in today's game against South Carolina State.
On the other hand, Hassell played less than a minute and DeChellis said the 6-foot-9 forward was on crutches after the game. The coach hopes he can return for Friday's home opener against Lehigh.
The win means that Penn State will play its third and final game of the tournament this afternoon against the Bulldogs at 3. South Carolina State also won its first game of the year yesterday, defeating Jacksonville State 80-72.
Luber said playing a trio of games in such a short time is not easy, but the guard hopes the Lions will end the trip on a high note.
"We have a young team still, playing three games in three days is tough," he said. "But it's the team that's more focused and the team that really wants it more [that wins]."
