FINAL STATS:
FGs: Temple 46%, PSU 35%
3s: Temple 4-12, PSU 6-16
FTs: Temple 13-19, PSU 17-28
Rebounds: Temple 40, PSU 33
Turnovers: Temple 10, PSU 7
Leading scorers for Temple:
Semaj Inge 19
Ryan Brooks 15
Lavoy Allen 11
Leading scorers for Penn State:
Talor Battle 19
Jamelle Cornley 14
That'll do it here from the Bryce Jordan Center for tonight. Again, the final score:
Temple 65, Penn State 59
***
Morrissey back at the line for the last two... he converts on both and the lead is 6 for the Owls.
Inge at the line for 2. The first hits the front of the rim but bounces forward and in, and he also hits the second.
Morrissey misses a 3 and that will probably do it for Penn State as Ryan Brooks will shoot 2.
Temple's small student section was just chanting "Overrated." I'm not sure how that applies. Don't you have to be rated to be overrated?
That's the game as Temple wins 65-59.
***
Morrissey picks up a foul to send Guzman to the line for 1-and-1. He misses and PSU grabs the rebound. Battle is fouled with 39 seconds left by Lavoy Allen and will shoot 2.
Battle hits the first but misses the second. Ryan Brooks hits another pair of free throws for Temple. 8 point lead.
Morrissey just got fouled and will go to the line for 3 shots. That's the third time Penn State has been fouled on a 3 point attempt. Hopes of a comeback are slipping away with 21.7 seconds left. Morrissey hits the first and Temple calls a timeout.
0:21 second half
Temple 62, PSU 55
***
And the life is taken out of the BJC as Temple beats the PSU press and Ryan Brooks gets an open lay-up. 58-51, Penn State misses and Ryan Brooks is now at the line for a 1-and-1. He calmly hits both and just like that all of Penn State's momentum is gone.
Battle beats his man to the basket and gets a wide open lay-up. Temple takes a timeout as it almost got a 5 second call on the in-bounds attempt.
0:55 second half
Temple 60, PSU 53
***
Penn State comes up with a steal on the in-bounds and Danny Morrissey buries an off-balance 3. What a shot by Morrissey. Timeout Penn State, that is their final one of the half.
1:19 second half
Temple 56, PSU 51
***
Penn State is in big trouble as Inge might have got away with a walk and connects for 2. Battle just can't get open and throws away a pass to the Owls.
Battle gets off a 3 and is fouled by Inge. The shot fell short so he'll shoot 3. Battle misses the first but hits the last 2.
Now D.J. Jackson is at the line shooting 2, as Penn State is in the double bonus. Jackson clanks the first off the back of the iron but hits the second. The Temple lead is 9.
PSU gets a break as Olmos misses an open hook shot, but Battle misses on the other end and picks up a foul after the rebound.
Battle picks up his fourth foul, and that is Penn State's seventh. Guzman at the line for a 1-and-1. He hits the first and misses the second.
What a pass by Jeff Brooks as he finds Battle cutting down the lane. Timeout Penn State.
1:20 second half
Temple 56, PSU 48
***
Battle gets an open look off of a screen but throws up a brick from a few feet behind the 3 point line. Inge responds by knocking down a 3 for Temple. The lead is back up to 9, but Jeff Brooks immediately cuts it down with a fade-away jumper.
5:15 left to play and Dione Christmas is finally on the scoreboard with 2 points to put Temple up 51-42. Christmas averaged 21.8 points per game coming into tonight.
Cornley at the line for 1-and-1. He misses the front end but Brooks gets the offensive rebound... and then air balls a 3.
Lavoy Allen with a turn around jumper and the lead is now in double digits for the first time. Ryan Brooks picks up a foul to send Battle to the line for 2. He hits the first and misses the second. Cornley gets another offensive rebound but is blocked on his follow up.
3:41 second half
Temple 53, PSU 43
***
Inge hits both free throws for Temple and the Owls show a 1-3-1 full court press. Christmas picks up his third foul. Never thought there would be under 8 minutes left and Christmas would have 3 fouls, 0 points.
7:33 left second half
Temple 46, PSU 40
***
Still no sign of Pringle. From up here in press row, it was hard to tell what happened. All I noticed was the referee blowing the whistle and Pringle quickly limping to the bench before taken back by the trainers. Temple took the lead shortly after the Pringle injury and Penn State has struggled since.
And the free throw woes continue. Battle misses a pair out of the timeout. Penn State is just 7-13 from the line.
Jeff Brooks is still without a field goal, but he was fouled and is at the line. He hits both free throws and the lead is down to 4.
Perhaps the reason Penn State has been able to shoot so poorly and stay so close is that Dionte Christmas has yet to score for the Owls. He's 0-6. Cornley hits a shot down low to cut the lad for two and then causes some concern in the arena as he was slow to get up. Looks like it was just a problem with his shoe as he appears fine.
Lavoy Allen gets an easy slam for Temple on an in-bounds pass. 42-38 Owls. The ball is stolen from Cornley on PSU's ensuing possession and Allen hits Semaj Inge with a great pass down the lane. Inge finishes for 2.
Battle fights through traffic and kicks to Brooks, who hits a nice jumper. Lead back to 4.
Under 8 timeout and Temple will be at the line for 2 when we return.
7:51 second half
Temple 44, PSU 40
***
Let's see if the Ed DeChellis timeout can settle down Penn State here. Simply put, Penn State needs to start hitting its shots. Still only 29 percent for the game from the field. That won't get it done.
The loss of Stanley Pringle appears to really be hurting Penn State right now. The Lions are struggling to create anything on offense... as D.J. Jackson knocks down a 3 to end the Temple run.
11:31 second half
Temple 40, PSU 34
***
Temple with a quick basket out of the timeout and Ryan Brooks scores. Morrissey is now 0-3 as he comes up empty from downtown.
Jones gets the feed down low and his shot just misses but he'll head to the line after a foul by Olmos. He hits 1-of-2 at the line.
Ryan Brooks hits a 3 for Temple, Battle misses one for PSU and Allen puts in 2 more for Temple. All of a sudden the Owls have stretched the lead to 40-31.
13:26 second half
Temple 40, PSU 31
***
Sergio Olmos gets the scoring started in the second half with an easy bucket down low for Temple. But Andrew Jones answered right back with a basket against Olmos.
Christmas misses a 3 and Cornley got called for a questionable foul on the rebound. Olmos misses a shot anyway, PSU looks to cut the lead. Talor Battle is just having a really tough time getting a good look. His shot was blocked, but he gets a steal on the other end and takes it in for a lay up.
And we're tied as Jones hits another shot in the post. D.J. Jackson with a nice blocked shot, forcing a desperation 3 as the shot clock was going down, but the Owls got the long rebound. Ryan Brooks knocks down a 3.
15:47 second half
Temple 33, PSU 30
***
Matt Brown here to take you through the rest of this game. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) I don't have more to add on the mascot game. I'm holding our for a frisbee dog appearance at halftime some time this year.
We'll see if Penn State can turn its shooting around. At this point, the Lions should be pleased that they're only down by four considering the shooting percentage. 2:45 until we start back up.
***
Before I turn it over to Matt Brown, here's a look at the first-half stats...
.........................TEM........................PSU
Field goals.......12-25 48.0%.............7-26 26.9%
3-point FGs......1-5 20.0%................4-8 50.0%
Free throws......3-6 50.0%................6-9 66.7%
Reb (O-D)........20 (5-15)...................15 (7-8)
Turnovers.........6................................4
The obvious stat that stands out is the Lions' poor shooting from the field. The taller Owls have given PSU fits down low, altering many shots and blocking others. Temple has pretty much neutralized PSU's speed and is connecting on its end.
Michigan and Ohio State have pulled off upsets already today with wins over Duke and Notre Dame, respectively, so it's pretty obvious this game could go Temple's way. Penn State definitely doesn't want to be on the other end of an upset on a day when their arch-rivals pulled off shockers and earned the Big Ten some brownie points with the selection committee for later on in the season.
And as Brown predicted after I spotted the Spikes' mascot before the game, there is a mascot basketball game going, which is by far the most entertaining action on the BJC floor tonight.
He may (or may not) have more on that, as he takes over this blog for the rest of the evening.
***
Looks like these fans aren't just loud tonight, but smart, as well. During the timeout they started a "We Want Newsome!" chant. Newsome, a Scout.com five-star prospect from Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., is one of the recruits seated behind the basket. He runs a 4.5 40 and, according to Scout, is the No. 8 QB prospect in the nation.
Allen hits a three to put Temple up seven. Cornley responds with his second three of the night.
Yes, you read that right.
Allen misses a three as time winds down, bringing us to halftime.
Temple 28, PSU 24
***
Looks like Battle was honored as PSU's student-athlete of the week, along with Megan Hodge from the women's volleyball team. That's two players from teams our missed colleague, Nate Mink, covers. The trouper could not be here tonight because his other team had an NCAA tournament match at Rec Hall earlier.
Micheal Eric puts it in to give Temple a five point lead, but Cornley responds for the Lions with a three. Inge drills a jumper on the next possession to put Temple up four.
Daryll Clark is shown on the scoreboard screen, as it appears he, Jay Paterno, Mike McQueary and a number of other well-dressed PSU football players and recruits are seated behind the home basket. I'm lovin' Clark's gray suit with stripes.
Back-to-back Cornley lay ups ties the game and brings the crowd to its feet. Inge responds with a lay-in of his own to put Temple back on top.
Inge then steals it from Cornley and finds a streaking T.J. DiLeo for the lay-in. Temple calls a timeout two possessions later.
1:52, first half.
Temple 25, PSU 21
***
The Lionettes come out during the break to dance to "Sweet Dreams." The catchy tune makes me wish for a moment that I was partying with the rest of the Collegian staff at the formal tonight, but being the dedicated reporter I am, I'm here with you guys.
...There's always the after-party.
Ramone Moore fouls Stanley Pringle out of the timeout, putting the Lions in the bonus already. Pringle knocks down a pair to put PSU up four.
The speedy Pringle then comes up with a loose ball and takes it coast-to-coast for the lay-in, but he gets called for traveling right before going up. He really appears to be too fast for his own good at times.
Two Owl possessions later, Pringle come down awkward on his ankle, forcing him to go to the bench. Doesn't look too serious, but we'll kee you updated with his condition.
Luis Guzman takes it to the bucket and draws the foul on Battle, his second. The Bronx native knocks down the free throw to put the Owls up one.
And another foul, this one a close call on Jackson, who picks up his second. The angry crowd voices their displeasure with a chant that sounds an awful lot like "grass-goal". Fortunately for them, Inge misses both free throws.
Lavoy Allen lays one in to put Temple up three. Almos misses a jumper on the Owls' next possession, and Brooks steps out of bounds on a 3-point attempt from the corner for PSU, bringing us another break in the game.
7:03, first half,
Temple 17, PSU 14
***
Christmas is obviously the leader of this Owl team. He's the back-to-back Atlantic 10 scoring champ and shows no signs of slowing down, averaging 21.8 points per game through this young season.
I'll refrain from the million jokes I have about Christmas coming to Penn State before finals this year, so I'll let the Temple athletic department do it.
Christmas is on the front cover of the Owls' media guide in the team's red road jersey amid a green background with a Santa hat on top of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Championship Trophy. The headline? "Five Months of Christmas."
...I couldn't even come up with that one.
Meanwhile, back on the court....
...After several scoring exchanges, Almos gets fouled by Jackon after hitting a lay-up. the center can't connect from the line, however, as Temple trails by two. Danny Morrissey replaces Jackson.
And Jeff Brooks now comes in for Jones, giving the Lions three guards, the 6-5 Cornley and the versatile 6-8 Brooks.
After no scoring and several more fouls --- the teams have combined for 11 in the first eight minutes so far --- there's a timeout on the floor.
11:56, first half,
PSU 12, Temple 10
***
The Lions seemed to have washed the bad taste out of their mouths from their last game, as D.J. Jackson sinks a pair of free throws after being fouled by Dionte Christmas. Battle drills a three on the next possession to put Penn State up 5-0 quickly.
After hitting a pair of free throws, Semaj Inge finds an open Sergio Olmos underneath for the dunk, making it 5-4.
Talor Battle responds, drilling a three and getting fouled right in front of the Temple bench. The point guard hits the free throw, and the Lions have a five-point lead once again just like that.
This crowd is by far the most animated I've seen since the Michigan State upset last February, as they are in on every possession.
Andrew Jones gets fouled by Christmas underneath, his second. And with that, we have our first break in action.
15:58, first half
Penn State 9, Temple 4
***
Hey folks, Matt Fortuna here to bring you the action from inside the Bryce Jordan Center, where the Nittany Lions host the Owls from Temple.
About five minutes 'til tip-off, and it's easily the biggest crowd of the season at the BJC so far....T.I. may top that tomorrow night, however.
Making its debut at the BJC is the S-Zone, seated high above the basket on the Penn State side. I gotta admit, it's lookin' good.
When the lights went out before the Lions came out for warm-ups, the fans brought out those blue light-up shakers, which actually looked pretty cool.
Not taking part in the lay-up lines tonight is Adam Highberger, who is on crutches after reportedly having teared his ACL in practice. The walk-on had a medical redshirt last season after tearing one ACL over the summer. Early word is he hurt his other leg this time. Poor guy.
Starting line-ups for tonight's game...
Temple
Ryan Brooks
Semaj Inge
Dionte Christmas
Lavoy Allen
Sergio Olmos
Penn State
Jamelle Cornley
Stanley Pringle
Talor Battle
Andrew Jones
D.J. Jackson
...back with the tip in a few
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