On the surface, the Penn State men's basketball team's 3-2 record during winter break may seem rather ordinary. But, in the annals of Nittany Lion hoops, this past break was one of the most impressive in school history.
A pair of weekly accolades, one record-shattering scoring bonanza and two personal milestones added some appeal to the normally studentless and lifeless three weeks between semesters.
In what was arguably the most exciting and fast-paced game in school history, Penn State outran and outshot the Virginia Military Institute Keydets 129-111.
The 129 points set a school and Big Ten record for points in a game. In total, the Lions tied or set 10 records against the highest-scoring team in the country.
Head coach Ed DeChellis was pleased with how his team handled itself against VMI's heavy-pressure defense, which was a key to the game, he said.
"For the most part, playing that kind of tempo for 40 minutes and having 19 turnovers, that was pretty good," DeChellis said. "I thought we did a good job of taking care of the basketball."
The barrage of points somewhat overshadowed what turned out to be a historic day for junior swingman Geary Claxton. With 1:55 remaining in the game, Claxton took an alley-oop feed from junior guard Mike Walker and slammed it home for his career-high 31st point of the night.
The alley-oop, which was Penn State's 12th dunk of the contest, also elevated Claxton, the All-Big Ten candidate, into elite company as he reached 1,000 points during his career as a Lion, becoming the 27th player to do so.
Claxton said it was a good accomplishment to reach the plateau, but he was happier just to get the win.
DeChellis, on the other hand, said reaching 1,000 points was something special for Claxton.
"It's a tremendous honor. He's been very, very good for us and I'm very happy for him," DeChellis said in praise of his hardworking star. "I like the way he got it. It was a nice alley-oop dunk from Mike [Walker], so it kind of put an exclamation point on it. I'm very proud of him."
The accolades continued as the 31-point, 11-rebound performance garnered Claxton his second Big Ten Player of the Week award during his illustrious career.
The following week, sophomore guard Danny Morrissey picked up where Claxton left off and rode a hot shooting hand to the Lions' second consecutive player of the week honors. For the first time in his career, Morrissey was recognized by the conference for his 22.5 point average as Penn State split a pair of games against Northwestern and Purdue. Morrissey connected six times from long distance in each game and currently sits in third place in scoring during Big Ten conference play.
Claxton and Morrissey became the first Penn State tandem to earn the award in consecutive weeks since the Lions joined the conference during the 1992-93 season.
Although the Lions missed the support from the student section, they still found ways to make Penn State basketball relevant, something that hasn't happened much in the past decade.
And although the Lions are coming off of two tough in-conference losses, the team still believes it can go on a run and make some noise in the Big Ten.
