Leiner dribbles out the clock, and Penn State goes to 6-1 on the season with a 78-54 win over Towson.

Stats below:

Towson.........Penn State

FG....20-68..........29-60
3Pt....5-21............7-18
FT.....9-15............13-19
PF......17...............12

I gotta say, it's been a pleasure making the trip to this historic site and bring you game coverage. That being said, there's a press conference any second now and a bus soon afterwards that I need to get on to head home. For Mink, Brown and myself, have safe rides back to Happy Valley and be sure to catch the Lions' next game, Wednesday, at Georgia Tech as part of the annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Those of you without the Big Ten Network (or CN8) will be in luck, as ESPN2 will televise the action at 7:30. Have a good one, folks.

***
Junior Hairston with a pretty tip-in off the miss and, to top it off, swats Jones on the other end. That, my friends, is what we call too little, too late.

On the Tigers' end, Tony Durant sees a pass go righttt off his back that Pringle scoops up and takes coast-to-coast for the easy two, putting the Lions back up by 28. No relation to NBA star Kevin...I hope. I thought we saw the last of these games after we left Happy Valley? Oh well, 'Nova/URI should be a good one.

Freshman Chris Babb is all alone and, with the crowd chanting "Dunk it!" he sees the ball roll right off his hands and around the rim. Pringle starts another fast break on the ensuing possession and hits the trailing Brooks for a nice jam...but wait! His clanks right off the rim. The other freshman, Cammeron Woodyward ends up with it and nails a three. Those two possessions are a microcosm of the two freshmen's seasons.

A few minutes later, and Babb hits nothing but air with three-point try, as it goes out of bounds. He looked like the MAN in practices, what's going on?

OK, so he hits a pretty bank shot on the next possession for his first career field goal.

Will Leiner and Steve Kirkpatrick, a pair of walk-ons, get on the floor. DeChellis then signals for a timeout, the ref blows the whistle, then the coach just asks for a sub so the third walk-on, Adam Highberger, can get in, speeding the game up without the break in action. Love it, Eddy D!

Kirkpatrick attempts an open jumper right in front of the Penn State bench, drawing the players to their feet, but it rattles out.

Another break in the action, 2:14 to go and three walk-ons and a pair of freshmen on the court for the Lions,

PSU 78, Towson 48
***
As the lead escalates to 30, Jeff Brooks shows no signs of holding up, diving on the floor for a loose-ball and making an effort to call the time. The ref right there instead called a jump-ball, and Brooks got up holding his right forearm and walking to the bench. Seems like the poor guy can't catch a break after suffering a concussion in a preseason practice.

Well, that was quick, as Brooks comes in at the next dead ball to replace Jones, who gets a nice ovation from the bench. Meanwhile, Brooks wastes no time going after it, taking it to the paint before missing a baby-hook amid a few defenders.

After only four combined fouls through the game's first 12 minutes, the second half has proven to be a more aggressive one, with 12 combined fouls within the first 11 minutes after the break. Danny Morrissey draws the seventh on Towson, as heads to the line and knocks down a pair with his team in the bonus.

Cornley gets a warm welcome from his coaches and teammates after being taken out for Jones. On the other end, Jones draws a foul on Calvin Lee, his fifth, which brings the proverbail "Left, Right....Sitdown!" chant from the small group of Nittany Nation fans sitting behind Penn State's basket.

Pringle replaces Battle, and he gets a nice welcome to the sidelines as well.

Break in the action with 7:48 to go and the Lions well on their way to a 6-1 start,
PSU 67, Towson 41.

***
Seated to my left is Scout.com 3-star center prospect from the class of 2010, Markus Kennedy, who is here to catch Penn State and, later on, Villanova, both of whom have made offers to the 6-9 stud.

I just chatted with the high schooler, and he told me he expects the basketball program at Penn State to soon be on par with the football program. The fact that Penn State is sticking in strong with other, more traditional basketball powers in the mix says a lot about Markus' feelings about the program.

Meanwhile, back on the court, Battle finds Pringle on the break and he makes a pretty reverse lay-in, capping off a quick Nittany Lion run that leads to another Towson timeout.

12:03 to go,
PSU 60, Towson 32

***
Hey folks, Matt Fortuna here to take you the rest of the way. I gotta say, after being upstairs at press row for home games at BJC and getting stuck high with the radio men last night, it is really something else to watch Division I basketball down near the court level.

Why didn't Talor Battle shoot that open three? How was that not a foul? All of players' (and refs') decisions seem to make much more sense from up close. Not to mention, the incredibly short amount of time players have for what many feel is a "good look" at the bucket.

Anyway, on the court, Talor Battle open things up with a pretty drive to the hoop for a lay-in and the foul. He connects from the charity stripe to make it a 19-point game. After a stuff by Andrew Jones at the other end, Battle finds Cornley down low for the two to make it 45-24, bringing us a Towson timeout and, for the third time since we've arrived here tonight, "Forever" by Chris Brown over the loudspeakers.

17:45 to go,
PSU 45, Towson 24

***
Penn State will set up on the near wing with Woodyard throwing it in. Pringle takes control but is pressured at midcourt by a double-team and wisely calls timeout.

The Lions will take another shot at things with 13.6 left and the shot clock off.

Pringle again takes control and finds Battle. Battle crosses to Woodyard and he buries a 3 with a couple of ticks left on the clock. That'll do it for the first half as Penn State is in command with a 16-point lead here at the Palestra.

HALFTIME - PENN STATE 40, TOWSON 24

Stats are a bit hard to come by here, but here are a few things of note at the break:
-Talor Battle leads all scorers with 12. Pringle has 7, while Brooks, Jones and Cornley each has 4.
-For Towson, Tony Franklin and Josh Thornton lead the way with 7 each.
-Penn State holds a significant edge in shooting, making 51.6% of its shots, compared to Towson's 35.7%.The Lions are 6-13 from 3 and the Tigers are just 2-9 from long range.

Some Philly Hoop Group youth teams are providing the halftime entertainment with about 10 minutes left until the second half begins. That'll do it for me, as my colleague Matt Fortuna will be taking over the blog for the second half.

***
The Penn State Nittany Nation student section is about 10 or 15 strong behind the basket to the left of us. The Palestra was just treated to a band-less version of "Rock and Roll."

Battle at the line and he knocks it down for a 4-point play that was interrupted by a media timeout in the middle.

Troy Franklin drills a deep 3 for Towson. Back down to an 8 point lead. Pringle misses a deep 3 but D.J. Jackson boxed out down low, pulled in the rebound, scored and drew the foul. Woodyard enters the game for Babb and Jackson finishes the 3-point play at the line.

Pringle with a crafty basket down low and it's 37-24 PSU. Hairston throws up a brick from 3 and Battle also misses a 3.

Shot clock off now as Penn State once again has the basketball. DeChellis yells out to hold for one but then calls a 30-second timeout.

20.5 seconds first half
Penn State 37, Towson 24

***
Battle takes a hard fall as he fouls Troy Franklin on a 3 point attempt. He misses the first buts hits the last two.

Babb misses a 3 and Brooks gets stripped of the rebound. Tony Durant throws up an ugly looking left-handed hook and PSU regains possession. Brooks with a hard drive to the basket but he came in a bit too hard and missed.

Babb does a nice job of drawing a charge and PSU once again has the ball up 26-13.

Penn State has cooled from the field as Morrissey misses a 3. Hairston connects for Towson for 2. And Cornley hits down low for the Lions.

Solid defense by Morrissey down low against Morris, but Morris still hit a little turn around jumper. Towson's half-court pressure defense is giving Penn State some problems as Cornley turns it over. Franklin cuts the lead to single digits.

Battle answers with a big 3 and sells a foul. He'll go to the line to try to convert the rare 4-point play.

3:35 first half
Penn State 31, Towson 19

***
Pringle misses a runner but Jeff Brooks' long arms beat the Towson defense to the ball and he follows for 2.

Nice pass from Talor Battle down low and Jones finished again. Towson answers with a Josh Thornton 3.

Towson now extends into a half-court 1-3-1 zone and almost comes away with a steal before Pringle missed and Brooks followed again.

We have a Chris Babb sighting as Pringle and Jones leave the game. Neither Babb nor other freshman Cammeron Woodyard played yesterday against Rhode Island. Woodyard has gotten more playing time this year, but Babb gets the first look tonight. Battle scores to put PSU up 15.

Cornley just air-balled a long 2 as the Towson defender seemingly dared him to shoot it.

A foul on Cornley is only the team's second more than 12 minutes into the game.

7:21 first half
Penn State 26, Towson 11

***
Towson misses out of the timeout and the ball goes out of bounds off of the Tigers. And we have the under-12 media timeout.

11:28 first half
Penn State 18, Towson 8

***
Another Battle 3 out of the timeout. He's putting on a clinic in the early stages.

Towson picks up a foul on a missed shot and the ball goes back to PSU with a 7 point lead. Steal by Towson and Justin Hairston slams it home on the other end, over top of D.J. Jackson.

Stanley Pringle hits a nice jumper just past the foul line. Nittany Lions shooting well thus far.

Towson answers with a long jumper by Josh Thornton. Nice play by Penn State to move the ball around. Battle made a move on the wing and found Jones down low, who finished with a powerful slam.

Ed DeChellis is unhappy as Andrew Jones was just called for a foul down low despite seemingly play defense straight up. Calvin Lee can't finish the 3 point play though. Cornley picks up his first points on the other end. 15-8.

PSU is on fire from downtown and continues to move the ball well. Battle made a nice move on the dribble and crossed to Morrissey, who hit from the wing. Towson calls a timeout to regroup.

11:49 first half
Penn State 18, Towson 8

***
Battle hits another 3. Certainly the start he needs after yesterday's rough day from the field.

Media timeout with PSU in control when play resumes.

15:26 first half
Penn State 6, Towson 2

***
Penn State is sporting its road blues today, while Towson is in its home whites with yellow and black trim.

And we've reached the opening tip, with a slight delay because of CN8's live TV coverage. Everyone is starting awkwardly at each other at midcourt as we wait.

The opening tip goes forward to Towson and we are underway. Brian Morris opens the game with a short 3 point attempt and PSU will look for an early lead, but Cornley is blocked from behind.

Penn State setting up in a man-to-man defense, as expected. Jones was beat to the basket but Nwankwo couldn't finish. Jarrel Smith connects on Towson's second chance for the first points of the game.

Towson is opening with a 2-3 zone, and PSU does what it has to do to beat it with a 3-point bucket by Battle to take the lead.

Justin Hairston attempted to slam home a Towson miss tomahawk-style but missed. Towson gets the long rebound but picks up an offensive foul.

16:27 first half
Penn State 3, Towson 2

***
A few minutes ago we were treated to a little slam dunk exhibition by the Penn State basketball team, as it turned its lay-up lines into a bit of a contest. Andrew Jones and D.J. Jackson threw down some nice ones, but the 5-foot-11 Talor Battle upstaged everyone at the end with a slam dunk contest-like high bounce to himself, which he slammed home with one hand.

***
What's up basketball fans, Matt Brown here to take you through the first half of tonight's third place game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Towson Tigers in the Philly Hoop Group Classic's Independence Bracket.

Yesterday, Penn State fell in a close one to Rhode Island 77-72 in the first round, while Towson stayed close to Villanova in the first half before being blown away 64-47. The Wildcats and Rams will meet following this contest for the title, but for now we have an important bounce-back game for the Lions to bring you.

A win over Rhode Island would have been big for Penn State in terms of RPI, as it also would have resulted in a matchup with Villanova. Instead, the Lions enter tonight's game as favorites over the Tigers.

After taking a couple of wrong turns in Philly, Mink, Fortuna and I made it to the Palestra with plenty of time to spare and are now courtside... for now, at least. Last night we got stuck in the rafters, but tonight we're hoping to be a bit closer to the action.

Tonight's starting lineups:
Towson
G- 20 Brian Morris
G- 32 Troy Franklin
F- 22 Jarrel Smith
F- 24 Justin Hairston
F- 25 Robert Nwankwo

Penn State
G- 12 Talor Battle
G- 11 Stanley Pringle
F- 15 D.J. Jackson
F- 2 Jamelle Cornley
C- 22 Andrew Jones

We've got about seven minutes until tip-off here, so stick around and follow along with us.

Penn State fans out-number Rhode Island fans big-time here, and the "We Are... Penn State" and "Let's Go Lions" chants are now carrying through the Palestra.

Morrissey called for a hold before the ball gets in, so no time rolls off the clock and Jimmy Baron is at the line for 2. Baron hits the first... and the second. 3 point game, no timeouts for PSU. Here we go folks.

Talor Battle was open on the near wing but Pringle didn't see him and instead shot a deep 3. He missed and the ball is tied up. Possession arrow belongs to Rhode Island and D.J. Jackson picks up his fifth foul on the in-bounds. Penn State will need a miracle now as Baron heads to the line for 2 with 2.6 seconds left.

Baron seals it as he hits both. Battle misses a last-second 3 and that'll do it.

Rhode Island 77, Penn State 72 -- FINAL

That'll do it for us here tonight as we head down to the media room. Join us again tomorrow for the third place game between Penn State and (most likely) Towson at 6:30 p.m. Unless Villanova somehow loses.

***
Jim Baron calls a timeout for URI as the Rams struggled to get the ball in.

Brooks comes in for Cornley. Battle picks up a foul on the in-bounds pass, his third. Marquis Jones a the line for 2. The first one looked good but rims out. Cornley back in with his four fouls. The Palestra getting loud now as Jones puts up the second, and it's all net. Three point lead.

Battle with a nice look to Cornley as Penn State gets the quick two. Timeout Ed DeChellis.

12.6 seconds left
Rhode Island 73, Penn State 72

***
Jackson picks up his fourth on the in-bounds pass and James will go to the line for 2. With a nice roll off the iron he hits the first but misses the second. Rebound PSU. Battle rushes a shot but the ball is off URI. 24 seconds.

Battle drills a 3. What a shot. For a guy who has had a rough time all night, Battle is trying to put the team on his shoulders at the end.

20 seconds to play
Rhode Island 72, Penn State 70

***
Battle hits 1-of-2 and URI takes control under a minute now. The Rams miss but the rebound goes off of Brooks and URI has a fresh 35 to work with.

Penn State will start the fouling game, as Cornley picks up his fourth. Seawright to the line for 2. He hits both. Rhode Island is now 12-of-13 from the line. Important stat? Yes, I think so.

D.J. Jackson slams it home on the other end. Timeout Penn State.

35 seconds left
Rhode Island 71, Penn State 67

***
Seawright sinks two free throws and the lead is back to 6. Free throw shooting has already been a factor in this one and will continue to be important as we head toward the finish.

Delroy James tries to draw a charge but the refs call a block and Pringle heads to the line for 2. He buries the first but misses the second. Brooks hustles for the rebound and the ball goes off URI... after a lengthy discussion by the officials.

Battle drives and draws a foul, two more free throws coming up.

1:06 to go
Rhode Island 69, Penn State 64

***
Battle at the line for a 1-and-1. Free throw shooting has once again been a problem for Penn State this season, but Battle sinks both.

Seawright answers with a nice turnaround jumper down low. Battle beats a defender off the dribble and hits a runner in the paint. The lead is 5 again.

Stevie Mejia cuts through the Penn State defense and draws a foul, while Stanley Pringle takes the brunt of the collision and winds up hitting the ground pretty hard. Mejia knocks down both at the line.

D.J. Jackson with a big follow-up on a Battle miss, and Baron misses for URI on the other end. This is certainly an important possession for Penn State. Cornley fights down low and has a shot just roll out, but he drew the foul and will shoot two.

Cornley's first hits off the front of the iron and is no good. The second is all net. 67-63 URI.

A tough foul goes against Cornley down low, that's No. 10 on the Nittany Lions.

1:32 left
Rhode Island 67, Penn State 63

***
Out of the timeout Penn State finally gets a big shot with Pringle hitting a 3. A Rhode Island turnover on the other end and PSU has a chance to close the gap here.

Pringle drives and dishes but Cornley can't finish. That's the kind of shot Penn State needs to hit if it wants to pull off the comeback in the final five minutes.

Delroy James at the line for URI... he misses the first and connects on the second. The lead is 8.

Danny Morrissey with a nice move to duck around Jimmy Baron and hit an open 3. A nice play by Morrissey to get the open shot.

Jackson picks up a foul and URI is in the bonus, so Marquis Jones will shoot 1-and-1. The front end is good, as is the back end.

Battle draws a foul away from the ball and will head to the line, as URI has also hit seven fouls. Media timeout.

3:59 left to go
Rhode Island 63, Penn State 56

***
Rhode Island's defense continues to be suffocating as Battle and Pringle have had to work for every little chance they can get. Only 11 combined points for them, and Battle just missed a 3. Meanwhile, Rhode Island's Jimmy Baron hits a 3 and now has 18 for the game.

Another missed 3 by Battle, Rhode Island scores on a fast break. All of a sudden the lead is 10 and Ed DeChellis wisely uses a timeout.

5:50 left to play
Rhode Island 60, Penn State 50

***
Seven-footer Will Martell hits a jumper from the corner and all of a sudden the Rhode Island lead is 7.

Penn State is really struggling from long range today as Pringle just missed. I believe PSU is now 4-of-15 from 3. Quite a change from the rest of the season.

Cornley finally ends the Penn State drought but again, URI has an answer with a Lamonte Ulmer bucket.

7:20 left to play
Rhode Island 55, Penn State 50

***
A questionable call on the in-bounds play out of the timeout gives Rhode Island the ball back, drawing the ire of a Penn State fan section right behind the official.

I don't have official stats in front of me, but this sure looks like the most minutes we've seen Jeff Brooks play in this young season.

Morrissey just missed an open chance at tying the game but missed from 3, while Cothran made him pay by hitting a 3 on the other end. Instead of a tie game, the Rams are up 5.

10:01 left
Rhode Island 51, Penn State 46

***
Another offensive board for PSU as Brooks grabs a missed 3, but Cornley missed PSU's second effort.

Here we go to another timeout.

11:47 left to play
Rhode Island 49, Penn State 46

***
Battle hits 1-of-2 free throws and PSU gets a rebound on the other end. Battle comes up empty from beyond the arc.

Jeff Brooks tried to make a move down low but had the ball but got swatted away by Kahiem Seawright. But then he makes up for it by nailing a 3 to get the Lions within one.

Keith Cothran hits a shot and Rhode Island takes a timeout.

12:52 left to play
Rhode Island 49, Penn State 46

***
Cornley continues to fight hard down low. He just hit a terrific turn around jumper from just outside the paint.

Penn State is doing a nice job of hustling for the offensive rebounds. Battle just beat a defender to an offensive board, leading to a Danny Morrissey bucked. Again, Rhode Island follows with a 3.

14:27 left
Rhode Island 47, Penn State 42

***
Cornley scores to get into double figures with 10, but Jimmy Baron with another answer for the Rams from 3.

15:51 left
Rhode Island 43, Penn State 38

***
What's up everyone, Matt Brown here to take you through the second half as the crowd starts to build with Villanova fans for the 8:30 contest between 'Nova and Towson.

Andrew Jones can't catch a break on defense as he just picked up his third foul already.

D.J. Jackson misses a three and URI follows with a made three. Jones tallies a three-point play to cut the lead back to two. And Keith Cothran answers right back for the Rams.

Rhode Island is sticking with its man-to-man defense, and the Rams are certainly the first opponent of PSU this year to match up with the Nittany Lions athletically.

Cornley hits a deep two-pointer but again the Rams answer, this time with Kahiem Seawright's long two.

16:38 left to play
Rhode Island 40, PSU 36

***

Some questionable clock management by Battle at the end of the half. Unaware he had less than six seconds left, Battle began walking the ball up court. Then, passed the ball off to Morrissey as the game clock was winding down, who pumped faked as time expired.

Ladies and gentlemen, a pump fake doesn't gives you zero points every time.

Halftime
Rhode Island 33, PSU 31

I'm a little short on stats, so I'll just give you my two cents for the first half before handing it over to Matt Brown.

In what is probably its stiffest test to date, Penn State is showing it has the potential to be a solid basketball team. A win tonight likely pits the Lions against nationally-ranked Villanova tomorrow night here at the Palestra, and that will pay huge dividends to the Lions' postseason blessings.

The Lions aren't getting out muscles, they aren't getting blown by on the perimeter, despite switching to a 2-3 zone. In fact, if they tighten the screws up top on some of these offensive fouls, and convert some easy points in the paint, the Lions would probably be in the locker room with a lead.

Things to look out for in the second half include what defense the Lions come out with and whether or not they continue to look to get the ball in the paint.

***

Penn State shows a 2-3 zone. Battle hits a three after the Lions get a stop to cut within two.

Two straight stops with the 2-3 zone. Let's see if Baron and the Rams can shoot Eddie D out of the zone.

This writer senses a momentum swing just before the half. Cornley tied up the game, then drew a charge.

47.2 left 1st half
PSU 31, Rhode Island 31

***

Andrew Jones can't stay away from picking up offensive fouls, this time drawing the whistle with his flailing elbows.

2:36 left 1st half
Rhode Island 31, PSU 26

Brilliant pass by Brooks to Jackson for a lay-in. The Lions are hanging around but just can't seem to put any kind of a run together. Baron missed his last two 3-point attempts, and Penn State continues to miss a lot of easy shots around the basket.

Brooks puts in a Battle miss just inside the left elbow.

3:01 left 1st half
Rhode Island 31, PSU 26

***

A blatant walk out of Delroy James is about all that happens this side of the timeout.

7:51 left 1st half
Rhode Island 26, PSU 18

There is a Nittany Lions here at the Palestra. I don't have the greatest eyes in the world, but it looks more like Smokey the Bear. Pringle drills a 2-pt. jumper.

Jim Baron drills another three ball. I'm just gonna start callin' him the Red Baron.

5:47 left 1st half
Rhode Island 29, PSU 22

***

Brooks just shook the ref's hand after pleading his case the ball did not go out of bounds off of him. The call stands, Rams basketball

10:31 left 1st half
Rhode Island 17, PSU 15

Rhode Island has shown full court pressure after made buckets. The Lions appear to be able to break it with ease, though. Brooks misfires from long range.

Good defense by Danny Morrissey at one end, and gets rewarded with an open look at three at the other end. Battle's getting suffocated every time he brings the ball up the floor.

A bad pass leads to a breakaway dunk for the Rams. Another Lions' turnover and three points later Jimmy Baron sinks a bomb from downtown.

Penn State coach Ed DeChellis takes a timeout.

8:15 left 1st half
Rhode Island 26, PSU 18

***

More Rams are cradling the basketball again. Pringle feeds Cornley on the low block who drops a baby hook.

Pringle drives, dishes to Cornley, but Jamelle misses the bunny.

11:05 left 1st half
PSU 15, Rhode Island 17

***

Jeff Brooks makes his first appearance in tonight's game. Double dribbles, palming, and traveling have been the story on the game's last three possessions.

Since we're in the Palestra, maybe one of you can explain to me why Drexel is not included in the Big Five when geographically, it's right next door.

***

Battle with a gorgeous feed underneath to the trailer man Jones for a jam. Battle just got stepped on the face after falling to the ground. He drills a three later that possession. The Rams quickly strike on the other end to knot up the score at 11. Flow is very fast in the early stages.

15:16 left 1st half
PSU 11, Rhode Island 11

***

Penn State coming out wearing its home white uni's. Rhode Island is lookin' fly in powdered blue.

Jackson attacks the hoop hard on a fast break, getting fouled to earn two shots from the line. Foul shooting was an issue for the Lions down the stretch against Penn Tuesday night. Jackson hits both, though.

18:33 left 1st half
PSU 4, Rhode Island 2

***
OK. I'm going to make a prediction. This will be the lowest attended game for Penn State this season. There might be less than a grand, and we're a handful of minutes from starting.

Aight, here are the starting lineups:

Penn State
12 G Talor Battle So.
11 G Stanley Pringle Sr.
15 F D.J. Jackson So.
22 C Andrew Jones So.
2 F Jamelle Cornley Sr.

Rhode Island
5 G Marquis Jones So.
20 G Jimmy Baron Sr.
21 F Delroy James Jr.
22 G Keith Cothran Jr.
33 F Kahiem Seawright Sr.

***

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. --- Hey y'all Penn State basketball fans, it's Mink bringing you live coverage of the Nittany Lions clash with Rhode Island tonight from the Palestra. The Nits return to action in the Philly Hoop Group Classic against the Rams after shutting down Penn Tuesday night in this building.

My colleagues and I made the road trip down to the City of Brotherly Love to give all loyal to the Blue and White a little play-by-play in case none of ya get CN8. I made my way from my spot on Pennsylvania St. down the Turnpike to the Quakertown exit before jumping ship into Matt Brown's whip. While all this was going down, Fortuna boarded a reckless bus ride from his home in the Big Apple. Screaming babies, shady characters, the whole nine yards was on the bus, he tells me.

Brown and I, being extra cautious on this day called Black Friday, decided to leave at 3, so we roll into Philly a good hour before Fortuna's 4:30 bus arrives in center city Philadelphia.

Killing time, we stopped to grab a bite to eat and then headed back into the city to pick up Fortuna.

For those who have never been to the Palestra, it's definitely worth it to see a basketball game here. It has a Rec Hall-like feel to it, which means this place could end up giving me a splitting headache when it's all said and done. All in all, a lot of history in this gymnasium. Wilt, Cuttino, Kobe, Jameer, Sheed all have memories of this place and, the list goes on and on.

We got about a baker's dozen minutes left 'til tip-off. Hang tight.

Penn State continued its hot start from beyond the three-point line in Tuesday night's win over Penn, and the Nittany Lions have now hit 49-of-103 threes, or 47.6%, this season. Talor Battle and Stanley Pringle continue to roll, as they combined to sink eight threes against the Quakers.

So I figured now would be a good time to dig out an old clip of former Kentucky great Tayshaun Prince knocking down five consecutive threes in a game against North Carolina a few years back. A friend of mine showed the video to me a couple of years ago and recently reminded me of it.

Honestly it's worth watching just for the Bill Raftery commentary.

Anyway, enjoy (skip the first minute to get to the actual basketball):

-Brown

It looks like the football team isn't the only one collecting honors in Happy Valley today.

Point guard Talor Battle was named the Big Ten's Player of the Week. The sophomore co-captain led the Nittany Lions to three wins last week, averaging 20.3 points per game on 66 percent shooting from the field and 59 percent from three. He also averaged 4.7 rebounds and 5 assists per game while turning the ball over just three times the entire week.

Battle will lead Penn State into Penn tomorrow night for the Lions' first road test of the season. The 1-2 Quakers are coming off a 21-point thrashing of Monmouth on Saturday. Tip-off is at 7:30.

-Fortuna

North Carolina remained at the top of the polls again this week, this time as the unanimous No. 1.

Xavier made its debut in the Top 25 at No. 16 after its miraculous buzzer-beating win over Virginia Tech in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off and its upset in the tournament's championship game over defending national runner-up Memphis, which fell to No. 18.

USC dropped out of the rankings after dropping a pair of games. It's worth noting that a pair of Big Ten teams, Michigan and Illinois, received votes in the poll, as well.

Rank-Team-(First place votes)- Record-Total votes-Previous rank
1. North Carolina (72) 3-0 1,800 1
2. Connecticut 4-0 1,694 2
3. Louisville 2-0 1,646 3
4. Pittsburgh 4-0 1,423 6
5. Michigan St. 2-0 1,402 5
6. Texas 2-0 1,355 7
7. Duke 6-0 1,330 10
8. Notre Dame 2-0 1,291 8
9. Gonzaga 2-0 1,222 9
10. Purdue 4-0 1,161 11
11. Oklahoma 4-0 1,094 12
12. Tennessee 3-0 1,005 14
13. UCLA 3-1 916 4
14. Arizona St. 3-0 767 15
15. Marquette 3-0 735 15
16. Xavier 5-0 600 --
17. Florida 3-0 535 18
18. Memphis 4-1 500 13
19. Wake Forest 2-0 414 20
20. Villanova 3-0 356 23
21. Georgetown 2-0 349 22
22. Kansas 2-0 272 24
22. Miami 2-1 272 17
24. Davidson 3-1 238 21
25. Wisconsin 4-0 214 25
Others receiving votes: Baylor 170, Syracuse 115, Saint Mary's, Calif. 111, UNLV 107, Ohio St. 52, Clemson 49, Michigan 42, LSU 25, Texas A&M 25, Siena 18, Southern Cal 18, BYU 16, Washington St. 13, UAB 12, West Virginia 10, Creighton 6, Missouri 6, Rhode Island 5, Georgia Tech 2, Illinois 2, Seton Hall 2, Mercer 1, Oklahoma St. 1, VMI 1.

-Fortuna

Last Sunday, I went through the first week's results for all of Penn State's 2008-09 opponents, so I'll keep up the tradition this week. The Nittany Lions defeated three teams to move their record to 4-0, with wins over NJIT on Monday, Hartford on Thursday and New Hampshire today.

Here is how all of the opponents fared in the last seven days:
Non-Conference Opponents
-William & Mary W 74-58 vs. Norfolk State, L 102-99 vs. Navy
-NJIT L 74-47 at Penn State
-Hartford L 99-56 at UConn, L 89-64 at Penn State, W 91-82 vs. St. Francis (NY)
-New Hampshire L 80-69 vs. Harvard, L 70-50 at Penn State
-Penn L 66-64 at Drexel, W 83-62 vs. Monmouth
-Rhode Island W 85-62 at Monmouth, W 92-86 vs. Virginia Commonwealth
-Georgia Tech W 82-76 at Mercer
-Temple W 71-55 at Lafayette
-Army L 66-64 at Quinnipiac, L 78-68 at Long Island, L 55-43 vs. Princeton
-Mount St. Mary's L 62-57 at Virginia Tech
-Lafayette W 80-71 vs. Stony Brook, L 71-55 vs. Temple, W 84-77 vs. Rider
-Sacred Heart L 70-54 at Fairfield, L 111-87 at Providence

Around the Big Ten
-Northwestern W 66-48 vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi, W 73-64 at Brown
-Wisconsin W 88-58 vs. SIU Edwardsville, W 60-58 vs. Iona, W 64-49 vs. San Diego
-Purdue W 87-58 vs. Eastern Michigan, W 78-46 vs. Loyola (IL), W 66-46 vs. Coppin State
-Minnesota W 72-71 at Colorado State
-Michigan State W 70-59 at IPFW
-Indiana W 60-57 vs. IUPUI
-Michigan W 55-52 vs. UCLA, L 71-56 vs. Duke
-Iowa W 73-67 vs. Texas-San Antonio, W 70-48 at The Citadel, W 66-57 vs. Oakland
-Illinois W 69-63 at Vanderbilt, W 78-64 vs. Jackson State
-Ohio State W 70-42 vs. Delaware State

Non-Conference Opponents' Record: 16-22
Big Ten Opponents' Record: 31-1
Total Opponents' Record: 47-23

Obviously, the Big Ten is carrying Penn State's strength of schedule right now. Temple, Georgia Tech and Rhode Island appear to be the only respectable non-conference opponents, along with Villanova if the Lions and Wildcats happen to meet in the Philly Hoop Group Classic championship Saturday night.

Michigan gave the Big Ten its first loss of the season but was still the most impressive opponent this week. At the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer in New York, the Wolverines shocked UCLA with a big second half before being toppled by No. 5 Duke the next day. But the win over the Bruins is certainly a big win for John Beilein's program, as well as the Big Ten.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin continues to struggle against inferior opponents. After having problems with Long Beach State last week, the Badgers needed overtime to beat Iona -- the same Gaels program that won just two games two years ago -- in the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Outside of the Big Ten, the most noteworthy performance probably has to go to Rhode Island. The Rams nearly beat Duke last week, and this week, they got a big win over a strong Virginia Commonwealth team. On the other side of things, Georgia Tech nearly lost to Mercer but pulled out a win in overtime. It will be interesting to see what Penn State does in Atlanta just a week and a half from now in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

-Brown

Babb gets back on the floor here in the closing minutes. Let's see what the freshman can do here at the end.

Brooks gets in the scoring column with a nice turnaround lay-in. And with that, walk-ons Will Leiner and Steve Kirkpatrick get in the action.

The third walk-on, Adam Highberger, makes his way in with just under two to go, making it a pair of freshmen and three walk-ons on the floor.

Babb bricks a three. In practices, it seems all he does is work on his shooting. He has a really nice touch and appears capable of doing damage if he gets hot. Unfortunately for him, that has yet to be seen on the floor this season. Luckily, the frosh has plenty of time to make a name for himself.

Nittany Nation sings "Hail to the Lion" as the clock winds down. Penn State goes to 4-0 on the year with the 70-50 win today.

UNH PSU
Field goals 18-55 32.7% 25-51 49.0%
3-point FGs 7-25 28.0% 4-13 30.8%
Free throws 7-10 70.0% 16-25 64.0%
Reb (O-D) 30 (8-22) 38 (7-31)
Turnovers 12 8

The Lions will play their first road game of season on Tuesday, when they take on the Quakers of Penn.

The team will be in Philly again next weekend when they take on Rhode Island -- easily its toughest opponent to date -- at the Palestra on Friday. The winner gets the Villanova/Towson winner the next night. My colleagues and I, being the dedicated individuals we are, will be making the trip to Philly after Thanksgiving and, of course, will be live blogging all of the action from the historic Palestra. Be sure to check in.

That's all from here. Have a good holiday break fellas.

-Fortuna

***
Jackson with the short jumper in the paint to extend the lead to 21.

Cornley follows with a similar shot the next time down, and Penn State finds itself comfortably ahead, 65-42, as UNH calls a 30 sec timeout.

Rony Tchatchoua (thank God for spell check) misses a wide-open lay-in down low, a microcosm of the second half for the Wildcats.

Freshman Cammeron Woodyward checks in to relieve Battle, whose 24 point, 8-rebound night earn him a well-deserved applause from the remaining fans.

Another break in play, and the handful of Nittany Nation fans left are recognized for staying during break to support the Lions. They deserve it, this game's been brutal, Battle aside.

3:50 to go,
PSU 67, UNH 46

***
Pringle resurfaces after his career-night on Thursday, hitting a three with a hand in his face to put the Lions up 18.

And a carry called on Gilchrese, the second such violation of the game for the Wildcats. These zebras would never survive an NBA game with such calls.

Battle hits his third triple of the game to put the Lions up 19. My colleagues and I really can't wait to see what he does come Big Ten season. He's 9-11 from the field so far today with 24 points and 7 rebounds.

Jackson misses a jumper, and Morrissey tips the ball up, then dives into the sidelines a la Dennis Rodman to knock it off a UNH defender out of bounds and maintain possession. The fans and bench get to their feet in appreciation of the senior captain's hustle.

Timeout on the floor.

7:07 to go,
PSU 61, UNH 42

***
Sure enough, Jackson nails the free throw.

Next trip down for the Lions, and Dane DiLiegro picks up his third foul, the team's fifth in less than six minutes so far this ha..

...andddd Gilchrese picks up his third, the team's fifth.

Battle lets his frustrations at the foul line out with a big "AHHHHH!" after missing the first. He regroups and hits the second.

A few minutes later, and Battle hits a three while falling into the lap of inactive center Andrew Ott on the bench, which draws "TA-LOR BAT-TLE!" chants from the fans of Nittany Nation. Both of them.

Cornley hits two free throws after being fouled by Radar Onguetou, who picks up his third of the game. That makes five Wildcats with three fouls and one, Abby Kabba, with four.

Tyrece Gibbs hits a three out of the 30-second timeout to cut the Penn State lead to 15.

Another timeout on the floor, and the cheerleaders come out with the free Papa John's pizza, which makes this place as loud as it's been all game. Heading home for New York in a few hours, I can definitely wait for some REAL dough.

11:57 to go,
PSU 53, UNH 38

***
Eric Gilchrese knocks down the trey out of the timeout to cut the Penn State lead to 9.

Cornley draws the foul on the other end, and bricks the first free throw before hitting the next. Great game for the senior captain thus far, but he's gotta do something about that 3-7 mark from the charity stripe.

Gilchrese nails another trifecta to cut the lead to seven, but Battle catches the Wildcats sleeping on the other end and makes them pay with a drive to the bucket.

Next play down, and Jackson draws the foul inside and finishes the baby jumper off the the glass. Chance for a three-point play out of the timeout.

But not before "Hey Baby" accompanies the Kiss Cam...

15:55 left,
PSU 46, UNH 35

***
Hey folks, Matt Fortuna here to take you the rest of the way.

Stanley Pringle opens the half with a pretty drive to the bucket, hitting the tough lay-in and the ensuing free throw for the traditional three-point play to extend Penn State's lead to double-digits.

On the next possession Jamelle Cornley finds D.J. Jackson at the elbow for the jimmy to put the Lions up 41-29.

UNH wants to talk it over, and Zombie Nation blares over the loudspeakers. The crowd is just a tadddd less pumped for it than they were during yesterday's football game. Just a bit.

18:57 to go,
PSU 41, UNH 29

***
Before I send it over to Fortuna for the second half, here are some halftime stats:

Score: PSU 36, UNH 29
Field Goals: PSU 13-27, UNH 12-25
3-pointers: UNH 4-10, PSU 1-7
Free throws: PSU 9-15, UNH 1-2
Rebounds: PSU 17, UNH 14
Turnovers: PSU 4, UNH 10

Leading scorers:
PSU: Talor Battle 15, Jamelle Cornley 12
UNH: Tyrece Gibbs 11, Eric Gilchrese 5

Leading rebounders:
PSU: Talor Battle 5
UNH: Abby Kabba 4

With that, this is Matt Brown signing off. Matt Fortuna will take over shortly and take you through the second half.

***
Chris Babb at the line out of the timeout, looking for his second and third career points. He comes up empty on the first but the second finds all net to tie the game at 27.

Talor Battle has been much more aggressive in the latter stages of the first half, as he just drove to the basket again and kicked it out. Brooks is now at the line shooting 2 to give PSU a lead and connects on both. 29-27 PSU.

What a play by Cornley as he stole the ball and immediately tossed a high pass to Battle down the floor. Battle converted the lay-up to put PSU up 31-27. Conley answers for the Wildcats.

PSU is really struggling for long range as Morrissey just missed a 3. PSU is now 1-7 from beyond the arc.

Conley just passed the ball straight to Battle, who took the ball to the rim, hit a lay-up and drew a foul. Battle knocks down the free throw and the Lions have their largest lead at 5.

Battle with a terrific fade-away jumper as the shot clock was winding down. It hit off the glass and went in for two. 36-29, the shot clocks are off and UNH turns the ball over. That'll do it for the first half.

HALFTIME
PSU 36, UNH 29

***
I remember once watching ESPN's "Around the Horn" and hearing Woody Paige think that former Phillies outfielder Bobby Abreu pronounced his last name "A-brew." Maybe he was thinking about five years in advance about New Hampshire basketball, as Alvin Abreu apparently prounounces his name "A-Brew."

***
UNH misses out of the timeout with nice defense by Cornley down low. And Cornley hits a mid-range jumper for two to give Penn State its first lead in 10 minutes.

Abby Kaba gives the lead back to UNH but Battle just hit a 3 in response and the Lions are up 24-22. Now Tyrece Gibbs has tied it up at 24.

With the shot clock winding down, Battle made a nice move down the lane and gave a beautiful feed to Jones, who was fouled on his way up. Jones hits both and his replaced in the lineup by Brooks.

Tyrece Gibbs gets into double figures with a 3-pointer and the Wildcats re-take the lead. Chris Babb misses a 3 for PSU and UNH loses the ball out of bounds on its ensuing possession.

3:54 left first half
UNH 27, PSU 26

***
Morrissey misses the front end of a 1-and-1, UNH misses a jumper and Talor Battle drives through traffic for a lay-up all within a few seconds.

Timeout UNH.

7:04 left first half
UNH 20, PSU 19

***
Tyrece Gibbs extends the UNH lead from long range. Lead back to 5 and Talor Battle almost sloppily turned the ball over on the in bounds but it the ball went out off of UNH.

Talor Battle hits his first field goal and the lad is 20-17. UNH head coach Bill Herrion has been putting on quite the show on the sidelines. His voice can be heard throughout the arena and he is constantly running up and down the UNH bench, shouting and waving his arms.

7:34 left first half
UNH 20, PSU 17

***
PSU continues to feed the ball down low. Cornley with a nice turn around hook shot. 15-11 UNH.

Freshman Cammeron Woodyard has entered the game for Stanley Pringle.

Alvin Abreu with a terrific drive and lay-up in traffic for the Wildcats. Cornley again gets on the scoreboard at the other end. The lead is back to 4.

Penn State is already in the bonus as the Wildcats have out-fouled the Lions 7-2 in the first 10 minutes. Cornley hits the first in a 1-and-1 at the line.

Cornley will take a well-deserved breather as Jones comes back. Cornley has scored 10 of Penn State's 14 points.

Danny Morrissey and UNH's Colbey Santos just tackled each other while UNH had the ball. No call made and just a very odd situation.

Battle on the line at the other end for PSU shooting two. He missed the first but hit the second. 17-15 UNH.

A UNH missed 3 gives the Lions a chance to tie or take the lead but Woodyard came up empty on a 3.

8:53 left first half
UNH 17, PSU 15

***
Thanksgiving break has made just about every group smaller at this game. The Lionettes are performing with just 8, the pep band is about 2/3 it's normal size and the student section looks about 18-strong at the moment.

***
Cornley breaks the Penn State drought and cuts the lead to 6 out of the timeout. UNH gets called for a carry and we head to another media timeout.

11:59 left first half
UNH 15, PSU 9

***
Penn State immediately turns the ball over out of the timeout and Eric Gilchrese gets an easy fast break lay-up. On the other end, Cornley goes to the line and hits 1-2 free throws. Tied at 7.

We have our first 3-pointer of the game as Tyrece Gibbs connects from long range. In Thursday's game with Hartford, the teams almost exclusively shot 3s early in the game.

And we also have the first Jeff Brooks sighting. The ankle roll must not have been serious. Danny Morrissey also entered the game.

UNH is playing very solid defense and Cornley just took a tough shot in the post and missed. Gilchrese hits a 3 on the other end and UNH is leading by 6.

For some reason Morrissey just posted up and got off a rather ugly shot down low. The ball went out of bounds and PSU stioll has it... until Cornley throws it away. The teams just exchanged missed 3s as PSU is very cold from the field. A Alvin Abreu bucket gives UNH a 15-7 lead as Ed DeChellis takes a timeout.

12:40 left first half
UNH 15, PSU 7

***
Dane DiLiegro wins an awkward opening tip for UNH and we are underway. DiLiegro beats Cornley to a rebound and puts the ball up for 2 to give the Wildcats an early lead.

DiLiegro with another basket as he beat Andrew Jones on a move in the post. 4-0 UNH.

UNH is showing a man-to-man defense right now. Most PSU opponents have sat back in various zones. Another missed PSU shot and UNH looks to build its lead. Instead DiLiegro decided to get called for an offensive foul. Wildcats showing some full court pressure but it's one of those "we're going to act like we're pressing but aren't actually trying to do anything" defenses.

Pringle misses a 3 but Cornley fights for the rebound, puts it up and will go to the line to try to finish a 3-point play. The attempt is off the back of the iron and the lead is 4-2.

Pringle immediately steals the ball and takes it to the rim, where it was swatted out of the basket to draw a goaltending call. Tied at 4 and UNH throws up an air ball.

Drew Jones with a nice move down low and a short jumper to give PSU its first lead. Tyrone Conley drives for the Wildcats and draws a Pringle foul. He'll shoot two. Conley hits the first but misses the second. 6-5 PSU.

Penn State continues to feed the ball inside, as Jones missed a short shot, got the rebound but had the ball deflected out of bounds. Media timeout.

15:44 left first half
PSU 6, UNH 5

***
One of the big questions heading into today was the status of Penn State forward Jeff Brooks. Brooks missed the first game because of a concussion and left early in the Hartford game after turning his ankle. His status was unknown after that game but he is wearing an ankle brace right now and appeared fine during warm-ups.

***
What's up Penn State basketball fans, Matt Brown here to take you through the first half of today's showdown between the Penn State Nittany Lions (3-0) and the New Hampshire Wildcats (1-1). Penn State is riding an eight game home winning streak dating back to last year, including victories over William & Mary, NJIT and Hartford to start this season. The Wildcats hammered Suffolk 101-50 in their first game before dropping a game to Harvard, 80-69.

Last year, the Wildcats finished seventh in the America East conference with a 6-10 conference record and a 9-20 record overall.

Starting Lineups:
Penn State
G- 12 Talor Battle
G- 11 Stanley Pringle
F- 15 D.J. Jackson
F- 2 Jamelle Cornley
C- 22 Andrew Jones

New Hampshire
G- 23 Eric Gilchrese
G- 21 Tyrone Conley
G- 4 Tyrece Gibbs
F- 15 Rony Tchatchoua
C- 1 Dane DiLiegro

We're about 3 minutes from tip-off in a rather quiet Bryce Jordan Center. As Thanksgiving break has started, the student section consists of a row and a half of fans behind the basket to our right.

Okay, so it's only December. But Wisconsin survived a scare from Iona last night, winning 60-58 in double OT. Michigan became the first Big Ten team to drop a game so far this season, falling to Duke 71-56, in the finals of the 2K Sports Classic Benfiting Coaches vs. Cancer at the Garden last night. We'll give them the benefit of the doubt, considering they upset UCLA last night, a huge win for the Big Ten.

But topping all of that is the Virginia Tech/Xavier finish. In case you missed it...

-Fortuna

Texas Tech has been the king of lighting up the scoreboard on a weekly basis each Saturday for quite some time now.

Well, it seems Red Raiders men's basketball coach Pat Knight is taking a page out of football coach Mike Leach's handbook. Knight's Raiders dropped 167 points on East Central (Oklahoma), including 90 in the second half.

Even though Tech probably has 4 digit spots on its scoreboards, it was a school record for points in a game.

One can only imagine the euphoria in Lubbock right about now. Its football team is set to take on No. 5 Oklahoma in perhaps a defacto BCS title elimination game. And its basketball program is led by the son of Bob Knight, who unlike his dad, apparently cares more about pizzazz than fundamentally-sound defense.

***
One quick note, Michigan upset No. 4 UCLA last night 55-52, making it that much easier for the Dukies to take home the 2K Sports Classic.

- Mink

FINAL STATS:
........................HARTFORD...............PENN STATE
Field goals.......22-51 43.1%...........30-50 60.0%
3-point FGs.....13-32 40.6%...........15-25 60.0%
Free throws.....7-11 63.6%............14-17 82.4%
Reb (O-D).......16 (8-8)....................33 (12-21)
Turnovers.......13.............................15
Last FG............2nd-00:10................2nd-01:41

Again, a career high for Stanley Pringle tonight with 23 points. Talor Battle had 21 and Jamelle Cornley had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

The Lions move to 3-0 for the season and return to action 2 p.m. Sunday against New Hampshire. Hartford is now 0-3.

That is all from the Bryce Jordan Center tonight... once again Penn State wins 89-64. This is Matt Brown signing off, thanks for following along.

***
Penn State basketball SID Brian Siegrist has just informed us that Penn State is one three away from tying the school record. Stanley Pringle has also set a career high with 23 points.

Walk-on guard Will Leiner has made an appearance. Cam Woodyard knocks down a three to tie the Penn State all-time record for team threes in a game. The lead is now 31.

More walk-ons take the floor as Steve Kirkpatrick and Adam Highberger take the floor. Woodyard, Babb and Leiner make up the rest of Penn State's five.

Steve Kirkpatrick gets on the scoreboard and Penn State's lead is up to 33. It looks like the Lions will fall short of 100 though, as they'd need 11 points in the last 1:22. Now that would be impressive.

Chris Babb tries to get Penn State a new three-point record but comes up empty. Time is ticking away in that chase.

Drake U'u hits a three for Hartford. After a Penn State turnover, Hartford now has the ball with 13 seconds left and the shot clock off.

U'u hits another three and that's all she wrote.

FINAL SCORE: PENN STATE 89, HARTFORD 64

***
Turner hits two free throws for Hartford. Still no sign of Jeff Brooks on the Penn State bench with under five to play.

Talor Battle will head to the line, and Chris Babb will be making his first appearance of the night. He enters the game for Pringle. Pringle leaves with 23 points, five assists and four rebounds, with no fouls.

D.J. Jackson is now the one PSU player in foul trouble as he picked up his fourth. Everything seems to be going right for Penn State as Battle just leaned in a hit a long two as the shot clock was winding down. 84-56 PSU.

On the other end, Battle picks up PSU's seventh foul of the half. Media timeout.

3:41 remaining
PSU 84, Hartford 56

***
A dangerous in-bounds pass by Pringle deep to Battle is almost stolen, but Battle controls in the backcourt. He misses a three but Penn State controls another offensive rebound and Cornley finishes for two.

Penn State now has an impressive 10 offensive rebounds in this one.

Maciel hits for two for Hartford, but on the other end, PSU adds to the offensive rebound total and Cornley heads back to the free throw line. Cornley hits both. He now has 15 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

Penn State's 24-point lead is its largest lead of the night, and Pringle now heads to the line for a 1-and-1 as Hartford now has seven fouls. Pringle knocks down both, and the lead moves to 26. Cornley hits two more free throws and Penn State reaches 80 for the first time this season.

5:02 left
PSU 80, Hartford 54

***
With the shot clock winding down, Battle fires a cross-court pass for Pringle but it was too wide and lands out of bounds. Penn State had been doing a better job of taking care of the basketball after 11 first-half turnovers.

Danny Morrissey appears fine on the bench but Jeff Brooks is still back out of sight. We'll keep you posted.

Talor Battle just took a hard hit and landed with a rough fall. He was slow getting up and Van Rosenberg drew the ire of the contingent of Penn State students.

7:52 left to play
PSU 72, Hartford 50

***
Hartford comes out of the timeout missing a three but collects a loose ball rebound. Surprise, surprise, Sabia shoots a three and hits for the Hawks.

Jamelle Cornley now heading to the line for PSU. Free throw shooting remains an Achilles' heal for Cornley, and he misses the first but hits the second. 66-47 PSU.

Hartford with a nice look down the lane but Cornley was in great position. On the kickout, Sabia gets nothing but air and PSU takes over.

Jeff Brooks just limped off the court and Cammeron Woodyard has taken his place. Not quite sure what happened to Brooks on the play. Woodyard responds by knocking down a three. Then Zeglinski answers with one of his own.

The teams are a combined 24-42 from three.

Make that 25-43 as Stanley Pringle drills yet another one. Pringle is now up to 21 points.

9:21 left
PSU 72, Hartford 50

***
Jeff Brooks picks up his first foul of the game, which is just the sixth of the game for Penn State. And now we head to a media timeout. You have to love two timeouts with 19 seconds of each other. Then again we're in the age of timeouts before and after kickoffs in football, so we're all used to it I'm sure.

11:57 left
PSU 65, Hartford 44

***
Penn State's current 21-point lead is its largest of the night. The Lions are now shooting 60% from three, while the Hawks have hit on 50% of their threes. It's amazing that these teams are keeping up this pace.

***
More full court pressure from Hartford. PSU gets the ball up court but then has trouble in the half-court and throws the ball way. In the midst of the scramble Danny Morrissey took a hard fall and is now down at midcourt. After a few moments he gets up under his own power and his headed to the bench. D.J. Jackson takes his spot in the lineup.

PSU beats the press this time and sets things up with Pringle in control. And Stanley knocks down a long-range shot for three. PSU back up 14.

Zeglinski and Pringle exchange three-point misses and Jackson collects a rebound, is fouled and hits both free throws.

In transition Cornley makes a nice move down the lane and hits a two. A Jackson three pointer forces a Hartford timeout.

12:16 left to go
PSU 65, Hartford 44

***
Von Rosenberg hits the first bucket of the second half to cut PSU's lead down to 47-34. After the start to the game, I still find it surprising when the Hawks don't shoot a three.

The Lions work it inside against Hartford's 2-3 zone and Andrew Jones draws a tough foul. With the way Penn State shot late in the first half it's somewhat surprising to see Hartford stick with this defense. And Pringle drills another three.

For the second time this game, Joe Zeglinski got fouled on a three point attempt. This time Battle was the culprit. He hits 2-of-3 from the line.

Cornley answers right away to put the lead back at 16.

Von Rosenberg hits a three and Hartford shows some loose full court pressure that gives PSU little trouble. Jackson misses a three but PSU gets the ball back in transition... and Jackson misses a long two.

Turner shoots and air ball from three but the Hawks re-gain control and Zeglinski hits a three anyway. Of course, Battle responds with a three.

In case you haven't noticed, there have been a lot of three-point attempts tonight... and Battle blocks a Hartford attempt. Media timeout.

14:29 left
Penn State 55, Hartford 42

***
Hey everyone, Matt Brown taking over for Nate Mink here in the second half. We'll see if the fast-paced game continues, as right Penn State is on pace for 94 points with a 47-32 halftime lead. Rebounding had been a question mark, but the Lions hold a 18-5 advantage in that category.

***

Here's some first half stats and analysis.

UH PSU
Field goals 12-25 48.0% 18-28 64.3%
3-point FGs 7-13 53.8% 8-14 57.1%
Free throws 1-3 33.3% 3-5 60.0%
Reb (O-D) 5 (1-4) 18 (6-12)
Turnovers 8 11
Last FG 1st-00:39 1st-00:03
Large lead 1 (1st-19:08) 15 (1st-00:03)

Well, both teams are shooting lights out from beyond the arc. The Lions are simply getting more balanced scoring ... shooting 64 percent helps, too. Let's see if the Hawks switch up their defense in the second half. If Penn State continues to get open looks, it'll keep knocking down.

Head coach Ed DeChellis has to be pleased with the 18-5 rebounding advantage his team has. Coming into tonight, he made rebounding a focal point of the team's practices this week. Practice makes perfect, I guess. And if you're Hartford, how do you only have five rebounds in one half?

Well, I'm finished with this whole blogging thing for tonight. Colleague Matt Brown takes over for the second half. This white blimp that drops coupons is getting awfully close to me. I'mma duck downstairs to grab a beverage.

***

All right, shot clock turned off. Here we go. 10 seconds left, Battle dribbles around the perimeter, dishes to Pringle on the wing, who head fakes and finds a wide open Morrissey in the left corner.

Splash!

Halftime
PSU 47, Hartford 32

***

Cornley flashes again in the 2-3 zone, power dribbles, spin and converts a lay-in.

Next Hawk possession ends with Morrissey drawing a charge.

Credit the Lions swift ball movement on the perimeter for beating the Hawks' 2-3 zone this half.

Lions really buying into that whole offensive rebounding focus. Jackson crashes the boards for a put back.

Beautiful pass by Battle to Pringle, who earns a trip to line.

51.1 seconds left 1st half
PSU 44, Hartford 30

***

The Lions' backcourt of Battle and Pringle have 24 of the 35 total points, almost all coming on three-point possessions.

Battle sinks his free throw from the last foul to put the Lions up seven with just under four minutes to play first half.

Horrible pass by Sabia. Tonight, turnovers turn into 3 points the other way. Morrissey drains another three point shot.

3:14 left 1st half
PSU 39, Hartford 29

***

I'm pretty sure Jackson just threw his arms up on the tip and the ball happened to go to in. Battle makes it look much smoother completing a three point play on the next possession. Lions back up by four.

Turner answers on the other end with a three. Lions give it right when the ball goes right through Pringle's hands out of bounds.

Lions get the ball to Cornley flashing to the ball in the Hawks' 2-3 zone. Cornley ducked a defender and put in a little one-handed right floater.

Battle leads the break then dishes back to Pringle who squares up for an uncontested three. Battle again finishes on a fast break despite getting hacked. This crowd is now fired up.

3:54 left 1st half
PSU 35, Hartford 29

***

Sabia drills a three to put the Hawks up one with just over seven to play first half.

Battle slipped in the corner right by the Hartford bench, didn't get called for traveling, then was swarmed by Hawk defenders. Battle took a TO.

6:49 left 1st half
Hartford 24, PSU 23

***

Jones tries to be aggressive driving baseline, but he ends up traveling. Hartford ball.

7:57 left 1st half
PSU 23, Hartford 21

***

Pringle crossed up Clayton Brothers. And no, that's only one person. I wonder if Clayton is an only child?

Hartford hangin tough out there. They trail by three midway through the first half.

Pringle gets some dribble penetration and goes glass for 2 points.

A head fake by von Rosenberg allows him to side step and nail a three.

Pringle misfired from long distance, but Cornley grabs the offensive rebound and is fouled.

8:36 left 1st half
PSU 23, Hartford 21

***

Penn State is crashing the offensive glass here, but is unable to pull down any boards. Good news though, the Lions are staying away from the cheap fouls. They have just one.

11:52 left 1st half
PSU 21, Hartford 15

***

Brooks checks in for Jones. Danny Morrissey also comes in for Jackson. Hartford showing a press and trap here, forcing a Lion turnover. Anthony Minor got good position down low for a lay-up. Pringle back with three more on the other end.

Genesis Maciel, straight outta Compton, gets called for an offensive foul. Morrissey drills another Lion three left wing.

Battle's attacks the hoop, drawing the foul and finishing with the right hand.

13:32 left 1st half
PSU 21, Hartford 12

***

Another Battle three ball. Jeff Brooks heads to the scorer's table to check in. The Lions are clicking on the offensive end early on. Hartford is staying with 'em though.

15:17 left 1st half
PSU 13, Hartford 10

***

Ok. Looks like we're ready to go. A small contingent of Hartford students made the trip down for this one. Cornley knocks down the first 2 pts. of the game.

Estes answers with a three on the other end.

Battle continues his hot stroke to start the year. He's now 8-14 on 3-pointers for the year with that trey. Pringle answers Battle with a three of his own. The Lions continue to shoot the ball well from the outside. I know it's early in the year, but that three-ball might be this team's bread and butter.

17:22 left 1st half
PSU 8, Hartford 6

***

Penn State takes the game's first possession. Apparently the shot clock never started. Small delay early on.

***

Penn State is riding its longest home win streak in nine years with seven straight wins at the BJC.

Hartford took a pretty nasty 43-point loss at UCONN the other night. This after trailing by just four in the second half.

Tip-off is right around the corner. Hang tight.

***

Hey Penn State basketball fans, Mink here to give you first half highlights of tonight's game against Hartford. Tip-off is about 20 minutes away. Here's the deal on the Hawks from Connecticut.

Joe Zeglinski of Philadelphia's Archbishop Ryan is perhaps the most dangerous player the Hawks have. Hartford's game notes have him listed as the "go-to-guy" in crunch time. The six-foot junior guard was voted preseason All-Conference in the America East.

Anytime I see the name America East, I think of the Retrievers of UMBC, last year's conference champion. Lehigh Valley greats Ray Barbosa and Jay Greene formed the UMBC back court last season.

But on to the game. Tonight's projected starting lineups:

For Penn State:
12 G Talor Battle So.
11 G Stanley Pringle Sr.
15 F D.J. Jackson So.
2 F Jamelle Cornley Sr.
22 C Andrew Jones So.

For Hartford:
1 G Jaret von Rosenberg Sr.
3 G Michael Turner Sr.
23 F Morgan Sabia So.
24 G Joe Zeglinski Jr.
31 F Kevin Estes So.

Adam Highberger, another walk-on checks in.

Jeff Brooks hits his first FG of the year as he knocks down a trey.

Steve Kirkpatrick dives on the floor after a loose ball in a game that is clearly over, drawing cheers from the crowd.

The Garris brothers foul out within a minute of each other. NJIT is left with six eligible players, two of whom are in the game with four fouls. You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?

Looks like Woodyard's night isn't finished just yet, as he replaces Brooks after he fouls out.

Leiner dribbles out the clock, and Penn State wins this one, 74-47, to go to 2-0. Hartford is next up for the Lions on Thursday, and the drough continues for the Highlanders. 35 straight losses.

Stats below:

NJIT PSU
Field goals 13-50 26.0% 24-53 45.3%
3-point FGs 7-23 30.4% 13-27 48.1%
Free throws 14-19 73.7% 13-24 54.2%
Reb (O-D) 33 (8-25) 39 (8-31)
Turnovers 24 19

Thanks for joining us. Signing off from the BJC, it's Matt Fortuna. Have a good one fellas.

***

Babb (finally) gets into the game out of the timeout.

Justin Garris dribbles the ball off his foot while driving to the bucket. I know, I know. You're no longer surprised.

Woodyard knocks down another trifecta on the other end.

Paulius Skema fouls out of the game. The Highlanders are still playing with three guys on the floor who have four fouls.

Brooks subs in for Jackson, who gets a standing O after his 13-point effort.

5:33 to go, and walk-on Will Leiner replaces Battle.

A Justin Garris pass goes right between the legs of Teddy Schickel. I'll keep em coming...

4:09 to go, timeout on the floor,

PSU 70, NJIT 40

***

Another side of the backboard shot by NJIT, its second of the half to go with five airballs in the first half.

Woodyward with a three on the other end to put the Lions up 30. Garris answers with a jimmy to break the scoring drought for the Highlanders.

Timeout on the floor with 7:51 to go.

If it says anything about this program, the NJIT pregame media notes feature a section titled "Answers to questions we wish people didn't have to ask," showing a list of lows from the past season. My favorite? Too many to choose, but I guess I'll go with the one saying the Highlanders haven't won a game since Feb. 19, 2007. Ouch.

PSU 64, NJIT 36

***

D.J. Jackson replaces a frustrated Andrew Jones after he picks up his fourth foul.

Battle drills his fourth three of the game, this one with a hand in his face, off an inbounds underneath the basket.

And with that, Zombie Nation begins, lifting about 10 fans (all of whom are in the front row) to their feet.

Out of the timeout, Jackson gets fouled, lays it in (Albert again...) andddd it countsss! He knocks down the free throw to give the Lions a 58-34 lead.

Morrissey forces a jump-ball on the next possession, as Battle chest bumps him in a show of emotion. The Lions work the shot clock down on the ensuing possession, which ends with a three in the corner by the man who started it all, Morrissey.

14-0 run by the Lions. NJIT hasn't hit a field goal since the 14:58 mark.

NJIT timeout with 9:22 left,

PSU 61, NJIT 34

***

Pringle pulls up from the foul line with a man to beat on a fast break and knocks it down.

Garris is back in despite three fouls.

I know this doesn't count as an airball, but Teddy Schickel just hit the upper corner of the backboard while attempting a 3 right in front of Nittany Nation. Ladies and gentlemen, your new and improved 2008-09 NJIT Highlanders!

Cornley with the baby hook (cue Marv Albert voice) andddd the foullll. These refs really are calling a tight one here, slowing the game down. Cornley knocks the free throw down to give the Lions a 16-point lead, their largest of the game.

And with that, Jeff Brooks picks up his fourth foul in his debut. Freshman Cammeron Woodyard spares him. Where's Chris Babb?

Three fouls in the last 34 seconds. That's less than a potential full possession, folks.

The Highlanders have three players on the brink of fouling out, with 4 each.

Break in the action, 11:41 to go,

PSU 52, NJIT 34

***

Penn State men's soccer team assistant coach Ryan Defibaugh spotted front row behind the Penn State basket. Just finished covering those guys, gotta show em some love.

Battle drills a 3 from the same spot as Pringle to make it a 14-point game with 17:40 to go.

Gary Garris takes a seat with 16:18 to go, let's see if the Nittany Lions can break this thing open with him on the bench.

Time out on the floor with 15:41 to go,

PSU 45, NJIT 32

***

Hey folks, Fortuna here to carry ya the rest of the way. Hopefully this half will be much more entertaining than the first one.

After each team's leader, Talor Battle and Gary Garris, exchange buckets to open the half, Battle finds Pringle right in front of the Penn State bench for a wide open 3.

18:14 to go,

PSU 42, NJIT 31

***

Here's some halftime stats.

NJIT PSU
Field goals 8-24 33.3% 12-24 50.0%
3-point FGs 5-11 45.5% 6-13 46.2%
Free throws 8-9 88.9% 7-11 63.6%
Reb (O-D) 11 (1-10) 17 (3-14)
Turnovers 10 11
Last FG 1st-00:32 1st-01:12
Large lead 1 (1st-18:16) 12 (1st-07:47

Before I turn it over to Fortuna for the second half, I'll give you 2 of the 6 cents I have on me.

The refs are clearly calling a tight one. DeChellis has to hammer that home in the locker room. Cornley has just two points, and has taken just three shots. More glaring, however, is the goose egg Cornley has in the rebounding column. The Lions are getting some pretty balanced scoring, though. Unfortunately, the balance has only given them an eight point team against a (Let's be honest) pretty bad team.

One would think Penn State needs to go back to its full court press to try and get off to a quick start to gain some confidence, but the amount of fouls being handed out, Eddie D may not force the issue.

***

Teddy Schickel drills a three. Lions hold for the final shot.

Halftime
PSU 37, NJIT 29

***

Lyn drops a three. This one ref is real animated calling fouls. 20 total fouls between the two.

Morrissey now has nine points. Brooks' flat out runs over Wilson. Pringle weaves in and out and lays it in.

NJIT Air Ball Count: 5

50.7 seconds left 1st half
PSU 37, NJIT 26

***

10 people in wheel chair are lined up just off the court.

Surely, and don't call me Surely, we got a 5-on-5 halftime show on our hands.

Those two free throws were good, F.Y.I. Lions lead down to five. OK, 3:14 to play first half, and more fouls!!!

Battle on the line. Uno, Dos.

3:14 left 1st half
PSU 30, NJIT 23

***

The ref initially indicated charge. The pointed at Jones, for the blocking foul. Groans from the crowd ensue. Timeout on the floor. Two more Highlander foul shots on the flip side.

The Lions haven't made a field goal since the 8:37 mark and are pointless since 7:47

3:43 left 1st half
PSU 28, NJIT 21

***

NJIT Air Ball Count: 4

Everybody's shouting instructions on the court. How is anybody supposed to know what's going on?

What a surprise, more fouls. I see him mouth "my bad." ... This Skema must be a Lithuanian prodigy from the charity stripe. Two more for Skema.

Another foul on the Lions, the ninth for the Lions.

Here's Gary bro Justin on the line. Makes good on both.

4:45 left 1st half
PSU 28, NJIT 21

***

They're handing out free 6-inch subs from Subway. I guess that's because they served us the usual fan-favorite Papa John's pizza in the media room before the game.

All right, here's Jones' throwing the ball for free.

Miss. Make. Got it? Good.

Gary Garris sits for a breather. Let's see if NJIT's point sit still with him.

Here's Paulius at the line. 50 percent on that trip.

Pringle thought about a 35 footer. Steps inside the arc, and rattles it in and out.

NJIT Air Ball Count: 3

***

Back-to-back Morrissey three's extend the lead to 11.

Jones going to back to the line. But first, a stoppage of time.

7:47 left 1st half
PSU 27, NJIT 16

***

Lithuania's own Paulius Skema made a feeble attempt at a right jump hook.

For Penn State to be only up five halfway through the first half says something about this NJIT team. Those jerseys could be distracting.

Cammeron Woodyard in for Battle.

8:53 left 1st half
PSU 24, NJIT 16

***

There's absolutely no energy in the building. Even the Lionettes leave the crowd seated with blank faces.

Cornley missed the first dunk attempt of the season for Penn State. Brooks' walks with the ball after gathering the miss. Take the bus next time, Jeff.

***

Brendon Lyn just made the ugliest shot I've ever seen. He wiggled his body to distract the defender then clanked the ball off the back iron and it dropped.

11:49 left 1st half
PSU 21, NJIT 16

***

Cornley called for a hand check. Nine fouls between the two in the first five minutes. And, NJIT just shot an air ball in front of thousands of people ... how embarassing!

Battle back-to-back three balls on Lion possessions.

Cornley jawwing toward Battle to set up the offense instead of swinging it to Danny Morrissey in the corner for a wide open three.

Jeff Brooks sighting! Gets a sweet assist to Jackson, who completes the three point play.

12:51 left 1st half
PSU 21, NJIT 14

***

Jones botches two at the line. Dan Stonkus commits a foul. Worst last name, ever.

Timeout on the floor

15:58 left 1st half
PSU 12, NJIT 12

***

Jheryl Wilson buries a three ball to give the Highlanders another lead.

Andrew Jones shooting free throws in a silent gym appears to help him made them. He drains both to put the Lions up 10-9.

NJIT now has more points than they did the entire first half against Manhattan.

16:27 left 1st half
PSU 12, NJIT 12

***

Lions pressing after every basket it looks like. And, NJIT is on the scoreboard by (who else) Gary Garris.

NJIT leads!!!!
... For about 6 seconds. Stanley Pringle buries a three. Timeout NJIT

17:55 left 1st Half
PSU 8, NJIT 6

***

NJIT messed up the tip-off. The won the tip, but tipped it to himself. Penn State ball. First possession. Jackson fouled, three point play.

15 seconds in NJIT has two turnovers. Lions force a Highlander out of bounds on a full court press after the Jackson free throw.

***

NJIT has pretty sweet uni's. Bright red.

Without further adieu, the starting lineups for tonight's basketball game.

Penn State
12 G Talor Battle So.
11 G Stanley Pringle Sr.
15 F D.J. Jackson So.
22 C Andrew Jones So.
2 F Jamelle Cornley Sr.

NJIT
13 G Jheryl Wilson So.
15 Gary Garris Jr.
00 C Dan Stonkus Jr.
21 G Justin Garris So.
12 G Brendon Lyn So.

***

Under 10 minutes to tip-off, and I could probably hand count the exact attendance number. Last year the Highlanders increased their point total by 19 from game one to game two. I guess that means scoring more than 51 points should put a dub-ya in the Lions' win column.

***

Penn State basically needs to guard anyone named Garris and that's it. In the Highlanders' season-opening loss to Manhattan, the Garris brothers scored 28 of the Highlanders' 32 points ... in the entire game.

Gary Garris, (hope his middle name isn't Garrison) leads the team in scoring, averaging 17 ppg.

***

NJIT comes in with a 34-game losing streak, "tied" for the longest losing streak in NCAA history. Technically, the Highlanders get a free pass from complete college basketball futility because NJIT is a program reclassifying to Division I from Division II. All records good and bad (so, bad), will start counting in 2009-10.

NJIT started playing a Division I schedule two years ago. I know, I didn't think it took five years to reclassify, either.

***

Hey ya'll, it's Mink coming to you from press row about 20 minutes before Penn State's contest with NJIT. Right now, we're enjoying Lil' Wayne's "Got Money" over the sound system ... with every other word being edited out for the over 65 spectators. Hope you liked that Talladega Nights lead-in to take you to the game. Unfortunately, NJIT is probably the worst team ever made.

Below is the newly-released AP rankings following the first week of games played.

Rank-Team-(First place votes)- Record-Total votes

1. North Carolina (72) 1-0 1,800
2. Connecticut 1-0 1,674
3. Louisville 0-0 1,635
4. UCLA 2-0 1,475
5. Michigan State 1-0 1,362
6. Pittsburgh 1-0 1,355
7. Texas 1-0 1,304
8. Notre Dame 1-0 1,243
9. Gonzaga 1-0 1,185
10. Duke 3-0 1,176
11. Purdue 1-0 1,116
12. Oklahoma 1-0 1,028
13. Memphis 1-0 968
14. Tennessee 1-0 941
15. Arizona State 1-0 653
15. Marquette 1-0 653
17. Miami (FL) 1-0 591
18. Florida 2-0 460
19. USC 1-0 398
20. Wake Forest 1-0 349
21. Davidson 1-0 339
22. Georgetown 0-0 265
23. Villanova 1-0 261
24. Kansas 1-0 207
25. Wisconsin 1-0 187
Others Receiving Votes
Baylor 125, UNLV 116, Saint Mary's 108, Xavier 102, Syracuse 97, Ohio State 49, Clemson 33, Texas A&M 32, LSU 23, Brigham Young 17, Washington State 13, West Virginia 10, Virginia Commonwealth 8, Virginia Tech 8, Siena 7, Vanderbilt 6, Rhode Island 5, Alabama 3, Mercer 3, Creighton 2, UAB 2, Southern Illinois 1, Holy Cross 1, Arizona 1, Cal State Northridge 1, Washington 1, Virginia Military 1.

Interestingly enough, North Carolina was not a unanimous No. 1 choice in the ESPN/USA Today poll, as Connecticut received a first-place vote.

Also worth noting is that Duke is ranked No. 5 in the AP, but No. 10 in the ESPN/USA Today poll following its close call with Rhode Island (a future PSU opponent, by the way) last night.

-Fortuna

The first weekend of college basketball is in the books, and Penn State opened with a solid 14-win against William & Mary on Friday. The Tribe followed up Friday's game with a 74-55 loss at Ohio.

With Penn State gunning for some kind of posteason bid, strength of schedule will be important. There are not a lot of marquee names on the Nittany Lions' non-conference slate, so how the mid-majors perform could be important. Here are the results of Penn State's opponents:

Non-Conference Opponents
-NJIT lost to Manhattan 56-32
-Hartford lost to Qunnipiac 63-62
-New Hampshire beat Suffolk University 101-50
-Penn lost to North Carolina 86-71
-Rhode Island lost to Duke 82-79
-Georgia Tech beat Winston-Salem 92-47
-Temple beat East Tennessee State 79-65, beat College of Charleston 70-65 and lost to Clemson 76-72 in the Charleston Classic
-Army beat Dartmouth 63-48
--Mount St. Mary's beat Loyola (Md.) 84-76
-Lafayette beat Wagner 73-67
-Sacred Heart lost to Holy Cross 67-58

Around the Big Ten
-Northwestern beat Central Arkansas 81-39
-Wisconsin beat Long Beach State 68-61
-Purdue beat Detroit 82-50
-Minnesota beat Concordia-St. Paul 76-51, beat Bowling Green 68-61, beat Georgia State 60-52 in the NABC Classic
-Michigan State beat Idaho 100-62
-Indiana beat Northwestern State 83-65
-Michigan beat Michigan Tech 77-55, beat Northeastern 76-56
-Iowa beat Charleston Southern 68-48
-Illinois beat Eastern Washington 66-50, beat Texas A&M Corpus Christi 72-53
-Ohio State will open its season Thursday against Delaware State

Non-Conference Opponents' Record: 7-8
Big Ten Opponents' Record: 13-0
Total Opponents' Record: 20-8

While Big Ten teams were perfect, the competition was not very strong to open the season. Wisconsin received the biggest scare and struggled with Long Beach State, while Minnesota had sloppy second halves in games against Bowling Green and Georgia State.

The most impressive non-conference opponent was probably a team that lost. Penn State will play Rhode Island in the first round of Philly Hoop Group Classic at the Palesta on Nov. 28. The Rams nearly knocked off No. 5 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium today, as they held a one-point lead at halftime before falling by just three points. Guard Jimmy Baron and forward Delroy James each scored in the 20s. The Rams should pose a very interesting matchup the day after Thanksgiving. A Penn State win will likely set up a tournament championship battle with Villanova that Saturday.

-Brown

And Penn State goes to 1-0 on the season with a 65-51 win over the Tribe. Talor Battle leads all scorers with 21 off 7-13 shooting. More game stats below...

WM PSU
Field goals 20-52 38.5% 23-49 46.9%
3-point FGs 7-25 28.0% 8-20 40.0%
Free throws 4-7 57.1% 11-15 73.3%
Reb (O-D) 27 (9-18) 32 (9-23)
Turnovers 15 13

From the BJC, this is Matt Fortuna signing off. Hope you're with us Monday night when the Lions take on NJIT, which is coming off a winless (seriously) season.

Have a good one, folks.

*****
Peter Stein misses a lay-in, and Battle works the clock before Jones inadvertently steps out of play.

Danny Sumner nails a three and the Tribe use a timeout with 1:13 to go.

Battle is fouled by Schneider on the inbounds, and Schneider receives an earlful from coach Tony Shaver. On the 1-and-1, Battle knocks down both.

Peter Stein lays it in before calling a timeout. The fans are heading for the exits.

59.9 left,

PSU 63, W&M 51
*****
McDowell hits the FT to cut the lead to 10.

Cornley gets tied up at the other end and is forced to burn a timeout with 3:38 remaining.

Out of the timeout, David Jackson drills a 3 in the corner off a Pringle feed, bringing the crowd to their feet and putting the Lions up by 13. Pringle gets down on the floor on a loose ball on the other end, forcing a jump-ball. Possession, Lions.

Andrew Jones with the offensive board and lay-in off a Battle miss. Timeout, W&M, which sparks an underwhelming Zombie Nation on the loudspeakers, if there is such a thing.

2:05 to go,

PSU 61, W&M 46

*****
Morrissey's three attempt off the screen is in and out. Next trip down, he gets called for a charge, his fourth of the game. Back comes Pringle, also with four.

BIG three from Darnell to cut the lead to single digits at 9. This wakes up Nittany Nation as Cornley draws the foul down on the other end. He calmly drains both with 4:50 remaining. Still, the Lions have failed to hit a FG since the 8:04 mark.

After a wild scrum for the ball at W&M's end, Battle draws the foul after diving on the floor. He gets up to chants of "Ta-lor Bat-tle!" from Nittany Nation. Pringle lays it in to finally get the Lions a FG.

McDowell gets the and-1 following a David Jackson foul.

Another break in the action with just 3:53 left.

PSU 56, W&M 45

*****
The Lionettes come out during the break in action and dance to ... Coldplay? Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Chris Martin and the boys, but I don't think "Viva la Vida" will get this crowd pumped up anytime soon.

Pringle picks up his fourth foul as Morrissey comes in to replace him. Teams even at 4 in that department thus far in the second half.

...anddd David Jackson gets called for a push-off on the other end, rendering that last stat useless.

Dan Schneider with the trifecta on the other end to bring the Tribe within 12.

Cammeron Woodyard with the first points of his Penn State career with a long jumper. Let's see if the Lions' other freshman, Chris Babb, can find the hole later tonight, as well.

Another break with 7:29 to go.

Penn State 52, William & Mary 38

*****
Hey folks, Matt Fortuna here to take you through the second half.

And of course, the obligatory "Kiss Cam" appears while the Blue Band plays "Hey Baby." Just a few senior citizens get shown before a pair of students, who seemingly don't know each other, are shown and make it clear they won't go near each other. Oh well.

Back to the action now (get your minds outta the gutter, kids), where Cornley gets fouled on a baby hook in the paint. He makes the second after bricking the first. Just six attempts from the charity stripe from the Lions thus far.

On the other end, Morrissey gets called for a cheap reach, his third of the game, which brings DeChellis to his feet. Quinn McDowell lays it in to cut the lead to 13.

The Lions are slow to switch and McCurdy makes them pay, finding Steven Hess.

On the Tribe's next trip down the floor, Battle comes up with the steal and blows rightttt by Chris Darnell for the lay-in.

Time out on the floor, 10:37 remaining.

Penn State 50, William & Mary 35

*****
PSU opens the second half with a steal but Pringle comes up empty on a lay up on the other end. The starting lineup is back on the floor for the Lions.

Pringle connects on a jump shot to put PSU up 37-24.

The Tribe misses a three but somehow the rebound is tipped by multiple players and ends up in the basket. That play pretty much defined "fluke."

Battle misses a three attempt but PSU gets the offensive rebound. Cornley hits a nice fade-away two on the Lions' second chance.

Sumner continues to pace William & Mary's scoring as he connects. But again Penn State answers, this time with a Pringle three. Talor Battle pulls down a defensive rebound and Pringle hits his second three in a row. Penn State in control 45-28 as Pringle finds his shot.

15:34 left second half
PSU 45, W&M 28

Now, over to Matt Fortuna the rest of the way.

*****
Before I send it over to Fortuna for the second half, here are some of the key stats at the midway point:

Leading scorers:
PSU: Talor Battle 15
W&M: Danny Sumner 8

Leading rebounders:
PSU: Jamelle Cornley 4
W&M: Marcus Kitts 4

William & Mary team stats:
36% field goals
33.3% three-pointers
14 rebounds
8 turnovers

Penn State team stats:
50% field goals
41.7% three-pointers
15 rebounds
6 turnovers

Once again, Penn State leads William & Mary 35-24 at the half. Matt Fortuna will be taking over the blog shortly.

*****
Talor Battle hits a shot to give him 12 points for the game. Shortly after, Battle hits a three-pointer to put PSU back up 14. Battle is now 6-of-7 from the field.

PSU is now being patient on offense as the clock rolls under one minute. Battle actually misses a jumper and the Tribe's David Schneider hits a three in transition. Shot clock is now off.

Battle misses a three and a last-second effort by Cornley falls short. We have reached halftime.

Halftime
PSU 35, W&M 24

*****
Marcus Kitts misses both of this free throw attempts after the timeout and PSU takes control on the other end up 14. Cornley misses a short jumper.

W&M hits a three, picks up a steal and cuts the lead down to nine with a dunk by Sumner. Ed DeChellis promptly calls Penn State's first timeout of the game.

2:45 left first half
PSU 30, W&M 21

*****
My colleague Nate Mink points out the Tribe's shooting troubles, as they are just 4-18 from the field.

D.J. Jackson follows up a Pringle miss with a strong put-back to give PSU a 14-point advantage.

Schneider takes an off-balance jumper on the other end but connects.

His next shot is William & Mary's second air ball of the night.

Pringle shoots another three while not open and misses. W&M back with the ball down 26-14. I was about to say that Penn State's man-to-man continues to look strong, but a wide open Peter Stein gets an easy lay up off a cut down the middle.

Pringle with a great feed down low to Jackson and he gets hacked on his way up. He hits both free throws and Penn State follows up with a full court press. The Tribe beat the press but Battle comes up with a steal anyway and goes the length of the floor for an easy lay-in. Battle is the first player in double-figures with 10 points already on 4-of-5 shooting. He has certainly looked like the best player on the floor so far.

3:50 left first half
PSU 30, W&M 16

*****
Cornley hit just 59.6% of his free throws last season but hits his first two of the 2008-09 season. The Tribe answers with a three-pointer to cut the lead to 10.

William & Mary remains in a zone on defense, and PSU's offense did exactly what it was supposed to do with good ball movement before Jackson took an open three, but his shot was off target.

We're off to the under-eight media timeout.

7:42 left first half
PSU 24, W&M 12

*****
Penn State is relying heavily on threes right now but has hit on 4-of-6 attempts. In contrast, the Tribe has hit just 1-of-6.

The Lions now are even smaller on the floor as Jones comes out. It's Battle, Pringle, Morrissey, Cornley and Jackson. It doesn't seem to matter as Pringle nails a long jumper for two.

Morrissey picks up a foul in what has been a relatively clean game so far. Just three fouls combined between the teams.

Pringle passed up an open three opportunity only to take one with a defender in his face moments later. PSU gets the ball back though as Pringle tracks it down off a deflection.

Cornley will go to the line for PSU's first trip.

9:06 left first half
PSU 20, W&M 9

*****
Danny Morrissey enters the game after the timeout, replacing Stanley Pringle.

Peter Stein sinks both of his high-arcing free throws and is pulled from the game after cutting the lead to three.

Morrissey makes a sloppy pass that is stolen by W&M, but the Lions get the ball back on the other end. Cornley misses a short jumper and the Tribe sets things up again offensively.

David Schneider misses two straight three point attempts for the Tribe. They keep possession but D.J. Jackson makes a great defensive play and swats away a slam dunk attempt.

PSU slows things down and gets the ball into Jones in the post, and he puts away a short shot for two.

The Lions are moving to a smaller lineup as Pringle re-enters the game for D.J. Jackson. Battle, Pringle, Morrissey, Cornley and Jones now for PSU.

The Tribe's Peter Stein puts up an ugly three-point attempt that sails over the basket and catches nothing but air, and Morrissey follows up with a good three-pointer in transition to put Penn State back up eight.

Marcus Kitts scores on Cornley for the Tribe, but Cornley follows it up with a rare three-pointer and PSU goes up nine.

10:49 left first half
PSU 18, W&M 9

*****
The two teams exchange turnovers and William & Mary will set it up with under 17 minutes left. The Tribe finally get on the board with a Danny Sumner three pointer.

Arkansas transfer Sean McCurdy gets his first bucket as a member of the Tribe to cut PSU's lead to three after a Stanley Pringle miss.

D.J. Jackson misses a three on the other end but follows the shot and ends up with an easy lay in. Great hustle by Jackson.

Andrew Jones picks up the first foul of the game as we head to the first media timeout of the game.

15:15 left first half
PSU 10, William & Mary 5

*****
Jeff Brooks is suited up, but we'll see if he gets into the game.

Penn State wins the opening tip but immediately turns the ball over to the Tribe.

W&M misses a three and Talor Battle responds for Penn State with one from well behind the arc. The Tribe appear to be in a 2-3 zone.

Meanwhile, PSU is opening in man-to-man. Jamelle Cornley puts the Lions up 5-0 early.

PSU is looking strong defensively so far. And Battle knocks down another three to put the Lions up 8-0. William & Mary promptly calls a timeout.

17:22 remaining first half
PSU 8, W&M 0

*****
It's looking like a solid student turnout for the first game of the season against a mid-major opponent. The rest of the arena? Well, there are a lot of empty blue seats with just a few minutes until game time.

In other news, the Pittsburgh Pirates green parrot mascot has made an appearance on the floor. The bird is here along with Pirates players Jeff Karstens, Sean Burnett and Neil Walker as part of a promotion.

*****
Hey everyone, Matt Brown here to take you through the first half of tonight's season opener for Penn State basketball. Tonight, the Nittany Lions welcome the William & Mary Tribe to the BJC for the first meeting between the teams since a 1914 showdown that Penn State won by the thrilling score of 21-19. The Tribe like to slow the game down on offense, but let's hope things don't get that crazy here tonight.

William & Mary hasn't had a lot of success historically but has put together back-to-back seasons of at least 15 wins and made it to the tournament championship of the tough Colonial Athletic Association. The Tribe beat Georgia State, Old Dominion and Virginia Commonwealth in the CAA tournament last year before falling to George Mason.

The Tribe return three starters while also welcoming Arkansas transfer Sean McCurdy to the lineup at guard. He will likely start his first game for W&M tonight.

Tonight's starting lineups:
William & Mary
G- 12 Sean McCurdy, Jr.
G- 2 David Schneider, Jr.
G- 22 Danny Sumner, Jr.
F- 23 Chris Darnell, Sr.
F- 15 Peter Stein, Sr.

Penn State
G- 12 Talor Battle, So.
G- 11 Stanley Pringle, Sr.
G- 15 D.J. Jackson, So.
F- 2 Jamelle Cornley, Sr.
C- 22 Andrew Jones, So.

We're still waiting to see if sophomore forward Jeff Brooks will be available after suffering a concussion last Thursday.

About eight minutes left until tip-off.

Well, that was quick. Just a few weeks ago I mentioned my (and presumably every Penn State basketball fan's) dream of having Gus Johnson call Nittany Lions games.

As it turns out, Johnson has signed on with the Big Ten Network!

As you can imagine, I am pumped. Hell, my colleagues and I will probably be able to hear him from press row after a Jamelle Cornley dunk.

Who knows? Maybe the Lions can "shock the world" this season like our boy Seth Petruzelli...

-Fortuna

Talk about making your presence felt early.

Tom Crean wasted no time cleaning up the mess he walked into at Indiana, as the Hoosiers signed five players on the first day of the early signing period on Wednesday. They are expected to have one more letter of intent come their way by next Wednesday, the end of the early signing period, when Bawa Muniru, a 6-10, 250-pound center, officially makes his college decision.

Among Indiana's commits is Derek Elston, a four-star prospect out of Tipton, IN, who originally committed to Kelvin Sampson. Crean was able to keep the power forward locked in after the former Marquette coach took over at the helm.

Four of the five early signees for Indiana are four-star prospects. According to Scout.com, the Hoosiers' 2009 class is No. 7 in the country, good for tops among all Big Ten schools.

Tubby Smith also made some noise yesterday, signing a pair of four-star in-state prospects and a two-star point guard out of California. He's also received a verbal commitment from three-star power forward Trevor Mbakwe, who has yet to officially sign. Still, Minnesota's incoming class is ranked No. 11 in the country, according to Scout.com.

Right behind them at No. 13 is Illinois, who received signed letters of intent yesterday from all four of its players who had verbally committed, including a trio of four-star prospects.

Matt Painter and John Beilein each inked four recruits to Purdue and Michigan, respectively.

Rounding out the rest of the Big Ten are Michigan State, Northwestern and Wisconsin, with two signings each, and Iowa, with one. With zero graduating seniors at the end of the academic year, Ohio State did not sign a single player.

-Fortuna

It doesn't seem too long ago that Bob Knight constantly ripped the media and instilled fear in young reporters at press conferences.

Now, after being featured in-studio on ESPN during March Madness last season, Knight's role will increase with the network in the 2008-09 season. The former coach of Army, Indiana and Texas Tech and the all-time leader in Division I victories, Knight will team up with Brent Musberger on Thursday night broadcasts beginning in January -- in addition to other games alongside Dan Shulman and various studio roles.

While Penn State has three games on the ESPN family of networks, don't expect Knight in the Bryce Jordan Center this year. Games at home against Northwestern and on the road against Georgia Tech will be broadcast on ESPN2, dates with Army and Lafayette will be shown on ESPNU and the Nittany Lions will travel to Ohio State and make an appearance on ESPN on Tuesday, Feb. 24.

And just for fun, here's an example of Knight's past experience dealing with the media as a coach. Who knows, maybe his "crystal ball" will make an appearance in the ESPN studio.

-Brown

I'm gonna turn it over to Fortuna for the second half. But first, some first half analysis. Penn State's press is paying off, forcing 11 turnovers is not too shabby. Even un-shabbier is just the two turnovers the Lions have. Yeah, the Huskies are shooting 45 percent, but they only took 20 shots.

Let's see if Penn State makes an effort to get to the line more in the second half. I like this defense. Always been a big advocate of straight up man defense, and DeChellis has to be pleased with the job his team has done on the "other" end of the floor.

Penn State's holding for the last shot. Cornley misses a long jumper. And a final heave is like 99.9 percent of final heaves ... no good.

Halftime
PSU 37, Bloomsburg 24

Let's take a look at the first half stats
PSU
Field goals 9-20 45.0%
3-point FGs 2-9 22.2%
Free throws 4-12 33.3%
Reb (O-D) 18 (5-13)
Turnovers 11

Bloomsburg
Field goals 15-35 42.9%
3-point FGs 2-8 25.0%
Free throws 5-6 83.3%
Reb (O-D) 18 (7-11)
Turnovers 2

Leading scorers:
Talor Battle PSU 11 pts.
Ruben Britt BU 8 pts.

***

Woodyard jets right to the hoop on a missed Pringle three to get an easy 2. Nobody boxed out Woodyard.

5-0 Husky runs cuts to lead to 12. But Cornley answers with a long 2-point jumper.

48.6 seconds remaining
PSU 37, Bloomsburg 23

***

Bloomsburg is shooting awful. I don't have a stat sheet in front of me, but if I were a betting man, I'd take the under on 35 percent from the field.

Whitehall's own Will Leiner checks into the game. Somewhere, Jerry Radocha smiles.

Battle sits with five minutes to play first half. Could be all we see from Battle til the second half.

Pringle's been able to get to the hoop with his quickness, but has failed to finish on a few occasions.

4:34 left first half
PSU 31, Bloomsburg 16

***

I'd say we got about 3,000 on hand for this doozy. There's a Steve Kirkpatrick sighting on the floor for the Nits.

Battle has 11 points to lead all scorers. Nobody on Bloomsburg has the quickness to match up with him. Penn State has 8 team fouls with just over six minutes to play. Gotta move your feet, boys.

***

Battle strong move going baseline. Another Battle self-take off a turnover, and the Huskies take a timeout. Battle and Pringle has been able to penetrate the lane a lot in the first half. Babb hustling on the defensive end, fighting for possession in the corner right in front of the Penn State bench. Babb got tabbed for the personal foul, but DeChellis applauds the hustle.

7:56 remaining
PSU 29, Bloomsburg 11

***

Huskies unaware of the expiring shot clock turn it over.
Cammeron Woodyard just missed a steal on an errant pass. The Lions are on a 17-4 run with Marko Vucajnk on the line for Bloomsburg

9:23 remaining first half
PSU 25, Bloomsburg 11

A Morrissey catch and shoot three-ball ensues more backcourt pressure from the Lions.

Folks if it seems like updates are coming in about as fast as Kenny George-led fast break, we apologize. The wireless connection inside the BJC is awful.

A Pringle three-point attempt got changed to a 2-point basket. Lion lead is 10.

***

DeChellis definitely made it a point to run his press packages. Just bringing the ball up the court is giving the Huskies fits. The Lions are playing hard-nosed man-to-man defense all half.

11:52 remaining first half
PSU 20, Bloomsburg 10

***

Lions are pressing every Husky inbound. They get their first turnover off the inbound press for a Battle lay-up.

14:36 left first half
PSU 13, Bloomsburg 8

Chris Babb checks in with 15:47 left in the first half

16:00 left first half
PSU 8, Bloomsburg 6

***

Nittany Nation is going 11 strong right now. Just nine Huskies are in uniform and out for shoot-a-round. Andrew Ott, Billy Oliver and Jeff Brooks are dressed in street clothes are sitting on the bench.

No word on why Brooks isn't playing. Drew and Mills are not in the starting lineups for the Huskies.

Here are the starting lineups:

Penn State
12 G Talor Battle
11 G Stanley Pringle
22 C Andrew Jones
33 F Danny Morrissey
2 F Jamelle Cornley

Bloomsburg
20 G Jesse Betar
3 G Ruben Britt
55 F Larry Webster
40 F Daniel Hoover
22 G Trevon Johnson

***

Hey all you Penn State basketball fans, it's Mink taking you through the first half of the Nittany Lions' exhibition game vs Bloomsburg here at the Bryce Jordan Center. We're about 20 minutes from tip-off here, so hang tight.

To give you an idea about the Division II Huskies, they hail from the PSAC conference, finished 8-19 a year ago, including no wins in the conference. Their best player might be Drew Jerry, a senior guard who averaged 6.7 ppg and 3.2 apg.

Bloomsburg also brings 6-foot-8 swingman Bryson Mills. Mills is a lanky fellow whose height could provide problems for the Lions on the wing.

Nittany Nation is going 11 strong right now. Just nine Huskies are in uniform and out for shoot-a-round. Andrew Ott, Billy Oliver and Jeff Brooks are dressed in street clothes are sitting on the bench.

No word on why Brooks isn't playing. Drew and Mills are not in the starting lineups for the Huskies.

Here are the starting lineups:

Penn State
12 guard Talor Battle
11 guard Stanley Pringle
22 center Andrew Jones
33 forward Danny Morrissey
2 forward Jamelle Cornley

Bloomsburg
20 guard Jesse Betar
3 guard Ruben Britt
55 forward Larry Webster
40 forward Daniel Hoover
22 guard Trevon Johnson

***

Hey all you Penn State basketball fans, it's Mink taking you through the first half of the Nittany Lions' exhibition game vs Bloomsburg here at the Bryce Jordan Center. We're about 20 minutes from tip-off here, so hang tight.

To give you an idea about the Division II Huskies, they hail from the PSAC conference, finished 8-19 a year ago, including no wins in the conference. Their best player might be Drew Jerry, a senior guard who averaged 6.7 ppg and 3.2 apg.

Bloomsburg also brings 6-foot-8 swingman Bryson Mills. Mills is a lanky fellow whose height could provide problems for the Lions on the wing.

For the third straight season, North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough was the leading vote-getter for the AP preseason All-American team. He and UCLA guard Darren Collison are the only repeat selections from last year's team.

Joining the pair of seniors are Davidson junior Stephen Curry, Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody and Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin.

Hansbrough's name was on all 72 ballots, as he became the first unanimous selection since Duke's Jason (er, Jay) Williams prior to the 2001-02 season.

Not a single player from a Big Ten school was among the 19 other players receiving votes. There were, however, a pair of Pitt players, DeJuan Blair and Sam Young. I'm sure that will sit well with a bunch of you.

-Fortuna

It may have been an NBA game, but just the sound of one of our favorite play-by-play men has us ready for some college hoops.

In just his first game calling the Knicks this season, Gus Johnson already appears to be in midseason form. Johnson, as you may know, also calls college basketball action for CBS.

It's a shame the chance of him calling a Penn State game this season is slim to none. Imagine the energetic voice calling a Talor Battle drive or Jamelle Cornley slam. Wishful thinking? Perhaps.

I, for one, will always associate Johnson's voice with the energy that is March Madness. For now, however, we'll have to settle with his call of a Wilson Chandler slam in New York's opener against the Miami Heat on Wednesday. From tiricosuave.com...

-Fortuna