PHILADELPHIA -- Their names and numbers were familiar, as was the result.

Captains Jamelle Cornley and Talor Battle and guard Stanley Pringle were the Nittany Lions' three leading scorers Saturday night with 13, 15 and 16 points, respectively, in Penn State's 78-54 stomping over Towson.

But alleviating the burden of the trio -- and, consequently, making it more effective -- was the inspired play of the Lions' supporting cast, which was stingy on defense and fierce on the glass all evening, putting back missed shots and aggressively pursuing every loose ball in sight.

Leading that group of players was Andrew Jones, who had eight points and 13 rebounds to go with his three steals.

The Philadelphia native's breakout performance was something Penn State coach Ed DeChellis had been waiting to see from his starting center.

"He's really struggled here and he hasn't really played as well as he can play, and he's always been bothered with foul trouble," the sixth-year head man said. "I was really happy for him to come out and play here well in front of his hometown, and he played very well. If we can get that out of Drew Jones then that's a whole different option."

Jones benefited from Towson's pressuring of Penn State's backcourt throughout much of the game, forcing the speedy duo of Battle and Pringle to often defer.

Tigers coach Pat Kennedy said those guards' ability to move his defense further back under the basket allowed Penn State to do damage down low.

"They really pushed our defense back towards the basket a lot more," he said. "They pushed our defense back and thus they got inside and got to the rim."

Battle felt the load was then taken off his back.

With Jeff Brooks and freshman Cammeron Woodyard -- who had six points each -- hitting open shots, the point guard said there was no difficulty relying on his teammates.

"Everyone is hitting shots. It just takes pressure off me, Jamelle and Stanley and just makes things a lot easier," Battle said.

"It was obviously in the best interest of me to keep feeding my teammates as they were knocking down shots and getting easy baskets, and I think that helps."

DeChellis certainly agreed, as the coach remained impressed by the entire team's ability to outwork its opponent despite suffering a tough loss less than 24 hours earlier.

"I thought the kids played well, they played hard, they played with energy," he said, "and I'm really proud of them."