Gopher Basketball
| Game Info | |
| Opponent: | Penn State Nittany Lions |
| When: | 1:00 pm, February 24th, 2008 |
| Where: | Williams Arena – Minneapolis, MN |
| Television: | Big Ten Network |
Following an up-and-down game featuring Lawrence McKenzie going unconscious from the outside and Jon Williams providing critical rebounding down the stretch, Minnesota looks to continue winning against Penn State at the Barn in an ever-more-common Sunday afternoon tilt.
Per usual, please feel free to correct errors and mistakes, add additional information you find interesting, or post differing opinions than mine by replying in the basketball forum.
Pennsylvania State University, at a glance
- The primary campus of Penn State, University Park, was put in State College, PA in an attempt to locate the college near the geographic center of the state. As anyone who has been there knows, this also successfully isolated the school from all other western civilizations
- USA Today reports that Penn State has the highest in-state tuition among any comparable college in the country
- Originally, Penn State’s official school colors were a stylish combination of black and pink. I only know that this would be stylish because my 14-year-old sister thinks so. Apparently, fading of the baseball uniforms lead to the more familiar and now official blue and white
- Penn State has had more student-athletes receive Academic All-Big Ten honors than any other school in the conference 7 times in the last 9 years
- Several traditions at Penn State started nobly but have since died. These include the “œPhi Psi 500,” where individuals or teams raced just over a mile through the heart of town, stopping along the way at bars to grab drinks. Entry fees and donations were given to local charities, but the event was officially banned in the early 1980s. It continues in an “œunderground” format. Another tradition was “œGentle Thursday” which was a “œday of sharing” for students ““ but celebrations were “œhighlighted by many drug- and alcohol-related incidents. These incidents and general truancy caused in area secondary schools” led to the event being cancelled beginning in 1980
- Notable alumni include: Toby Flenderson, who is the HR rep for Dunder-Mifflin Scranton in The Office, former US Senator Rick Santorum (hey Sour, don’t spill that bag of santorum on me!), Samuel Preston Bayard, who we all know as the popular folklorist and expert on fife and fiddle tunes, Ian Rosenberger, who finished 3rd on Survivor: Palau, Stan Lathan, co-creator of Def Comedy Jam, and John Aniston, an actor who plays “œVictor” on Days of our Lives and the man who fathered always voluptuous Jennifer Aniston
A Brief History of Minnesota/Penn State basketball
As many of us already know, Penn State joined the Big 10 about 40 years after the next most recent addition, which was Michigan State in 1953. The Gophers and the Nittany Lions have only met 30 times, making Penn State easily the least played of all Big 10 opponents for the Gophers and the 11th most played of any opponent, behind the other 9 schools in the conference and Marquette.
Minnesota and Penn State first met on December 26, 1975. The game was part of the now-extinct Pillsbury Classic, which was played at the old Met Center in Bloomington. The Gophers won by a score of 86-70. The two teams didn’t meet again until Penn State joined the Big 10 in the 1992-1993 season. That March, Penn State grabbed its first win in the series the following season, 78-67 in State College. Minnesota and Penn State have played at least once head-to-head every season since 1992-1993
Clem Haskins record against Penn State was 8-5 overall, with Penn State defending the home court pretty well, winning 4 straight on the home floor against Haskins’ Gophers. Dan Monson was 9-3 against Penn State during his tenure, including winning the only game the two teams have played in the Big 10 tournament.
The Gophers have been virtually unbeatable at Williams over the course of this series, posting a home record of 12-1 all-time against Penn State. The Gophers are 13-1 all-time against the Nitts in the state of Minnesota.
The longest winning streak in the series history is Minnesota’s current winning streak, which was extended to 6 games earlier this year. The longest winning streak for Penn State is taking back-to-back from the Gophers, which they did in the first two meetings with Monson’s teams.
Outside of struggling to get a win in State College during the late 90s, Minnesota has dominated the series. Based on on-court results and not official NCAA records, Minnesota leads 21-9. The official all-time series, with Clem’s games removed, is Minnesota 14-3, which is actually a higher winning percentage than if the forfeited games are included.
Penn State this season
Penn State has experienced a bit of a roller coaster season. They struggled early in the non-conference season before building as Big 10 season approached. They began Big 10 play 2-1 before their star, senior Geary Claxton, went down with a season-ending injury to his left knee during the team’s 4th Big 10 game against Wisconsin on January 15th.
Non-conference: Penn State was 8-4 in their non-conference schedule, 3 of the losses coming in a terrible stretch in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando ““ a pain Gopher fans know all too well. Consecutive losses to South Carolina, Rider and UCF put Penn State at 2-3 for the season. They would bounce back though, losing just 1 more game before Big 10 play began (at St. Joseph’s) and winning 5 straight heading into their Big 10 opener.
In-conference: A pair of road victories to begin the Big 10 season over Northwestern and Illinois extended Penn State’s winning streak to 7 and things were looking up in Happy Valley. The winning streak was snapped when Minnesota launched an improbable second half comeback at the Bryce Jordan Center, knocking off Penn State and ending their hopes of a perfect Big 10 season (ha!). The following week though, the Nittany Lions lost Claxton to injury and watch their skid stretch to six games before upsetting Michigan State in early February. Since then, Penn State’s lone additional Big 10 win came against Illinois, 52-51, just 4 days after the Illini came to Minneapolis and dismantled the Gophers. Penn State is currently 4-9 in the Big 10 and on their way to their 10th straight losing season in the conference. (Note: Penn State has post only one winning record in the conference since joining the Big 10, 1995-1996. They’ve also finished .500 twice, 1994-1995 and 1997-1998)
First Meeting v. Minnesota: The first time these teams met, Penn State took control of the game during the middle of the first half and enjoyed a 3 point lead at halftime, 38-35. Early in the second half, Penn State built that lead to as many as 16 points. The Gophers began the comeback around the 12-minute mark of the second half, pulling ahead 73-72 with just under 4 minutes to play. Penn State tied the game at 73-73 and it stayed tied for what seemed like forever during the closing minutes before Al Nolen’s steal near mid-court inside of 10 seconds lead to an intentional foul being called against Penn State and Nolen connecting on the two free throws, followed by a third on the ensuing possession, to seal a 76-73 win. Spencer Tollackson matched Geary Claxton’s scoring as the two tied for the game-high with 19. Dan “œSlee-vye” Coleman had a game-high 11 boards and Al Nolen posted game-highs in assists, 7, and steals, 3, the last of which being the game’s most decisive play.
Penn State only played one true road game in the non-conference schedule and even this didn’t require them to leave Pennsylvania (they loss to St. Joseph’s). Overall, the Nitts are 2-6 in true road games this season, including 2-5 in the Big 10. They’ve lost 5 straight on the road.
Penn State is averaging 65.8 points/game this season, which is tied for 7th in the Big 10 with Illinois (ahead of Michigan, Northwestern and Iowa). Defensively, they’re allowing 66.5 /game, 9th in the Big 10.
The Nittany Lions you should know
2 ““ Jamelle Cornley (Jr.) Forward Columbus, OH (Brookhaven HS)
MPG 30.3 PPG 11.5 RPG 5.9 APG 1.9
-With Geary Claxton out, Jamelle has been asked to pick up the slack in the stat sheet. He leads the team in points/game and rebounds/game and is third in assists/game
-Jamelle is shooting a solid 49.5% from the floor this year. For his career, he’s a 50.5% shooter from the floor
-Jamelle’s free throw shooting percentage has dwindled each year he’s been with Penn State. This year, he’s 45-for-81 (55.6%)
-Jamelle hit his averages the first time through with Minnesota, scoring 11 points and grabbing 7 rebounds
-Jamelle’s father, Hank, played basketball at Illinois State from 1980-1984
-Jamelle is a Recreation, Park and Tourism Management major
4 ““ Mike Walker (Sr.) Guard Lewisberry, PA (Trinity HS))
MPG 16.4 PPG 5.9 RPG 0.5 APG 1.2
-Mike is coming off a tough game against Michigan State where he shot 1-for-6, including 0-for-5 from beyond the arc
-Mike tends to shoot a lot of 3s. This season, 98 of his 127 FGAs have come from outside (77.2%) and for his career 74.4% of his shots have been for 3
-Mike is averaging fewer minutes played per game this year than any previous year in his career at Penn State
-Mike is a Supply Chain and Information Systems Management major
11 ““ Stanley Pringle (Jr.) Guard Virginia Beach, VA (Landstown HS)
MPG 20.1 PPG 6.5 RPG 2.4 APG 2.3
-Stanley has been getting significantly more minutes over the last month and has returned the favor by dropping 10+ points in 5 of his last 7 games
-Stanley is a streaky shooter who can go cold during a game. Examples: 4-for-13 against Michigan, 2-for-11 against Ohio State, 1-for-7 against South Carolina
-On the flip side of that, Stanley is an excellent 3-point shooter and can definitely get into a hot streak. On the season, he’s canned 27-for-67 from outside (40.3%)
-Stanley transferred to Penn State after playing Juco ball at Pasco-Hernando Community College for two seasons
12 ““ Talor Battle (Fr.) Guard Albany, NY (Bishop Maginn HS)
MPG 28.9 PPG 9.9 RPG 3.0 APG 3.0
-Talor’s struggles from the 3-point line have not led him to stop shooting from out there. He’s 34-for-127 on the season (26.8%), taking just over ½ his FGAs from outside
-Talor has played from day one in this, his freshman year, logging 20+ minutes in all but one game (played 18 minutes in a loss to Rider)
-In Big 10 play, Talor has scored 10+ points in 9 of his team’s 13 games, including 19 (his 2nd highest total of the season) against Minnesota the first time around
15 ““ David Jackson (Fr.) Forward Farrell, PA (Kennedy Catholic HS)
MPG 21.5 PPG 5.4 RPG 3.3 APG 0.6
-Over Penn State’s last 7 games, David has shot 5-for-26, a meager 19.2%, from the field
-David, on average, commits a personal foul once every 8 minutes played
-David’s brother, Amir Johnson, was drafted by the Detroit Piston’s straight out of high school
-David’s mother, Andrea, played volleyball in college and was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team
22 ““ Andrew Jones III (Fr.) Forward Philadelphia, PA (Abington Friends HS)
MPG 16.2 PPG 3.5 RPG 3.8 APG 0.4
-Though Andrew only played 8 minutes in the first game against Minnesota, he’s been seeing a lot more action lately, playing over 20 minutes in 6 straight games. His 8 minutes against the Gophers was his third-lowest total of the season
-Andrew has hit 23-for-38 at the free throw line (60.5%)
-From the floor Andrew has been effective shooting 35-for-66 (53%). Though he doesn’t play a ton of minutes, Penn State will work the ball in to him when he’s on the floor
23 ““ Brandon Hassell (Sr.) Forward Farmersville, OH (Valley View HS)
MPG 13.1 PPG 3.0 RPG 3.4 APG 0.4
-Brandon is 4-for-14 from the floor over his last 9 games
-Brandon had 6 points in this first meeting with the Gophers, which is tied for his season-high. He’s hit 6 on 5 separate games
-Brandon commits a foul, on average, once every 7 minutes
-For a 6’11″ player, Brandon doesn’t block a ton of shots. On the season he has 8, an average 0.3/game. He averages 1 blocked shot for every 39 minutes played. His block total is much lower in Big 10 play, where he’s swatted just 2 shots
-His father, O.J., played college football at Miami (OH) and his cousin is former Timberwolves “œdefensive specialist” Trenton Hassell
-Brandon is a Recreation, Park and Tourism Management major
25 ““ Jeff Brooks, Jr. (Fr.) Forward Louisville, KY (Doss HS)
MPG 13.2 PPG 2.5 RPG 2.0 APG 0.8
-Jeff has seen fewer minutes lately than during any other stretch of his freshman year. Removing an 18 minute game against Purdue on February 5, Jeff has played just 15 minutes total in the last 5 games
-Jeff will occasionally step outside to shoot a 3, even though his only converted triples were a part of a 2-for-2 performance against Colgate. He is 0-for-9 in all other games
-Jeff is a pretty bad free throw shooter also, hitting just 8-for-26 this season (30.8%)
-Jeff enjoys reading Harry Potter books
33 ““ Danny Morrissey (Jr.) Guard Cleveland, OH (University HS/Pendleton School)
MPG 21.0 PPG 7.4 RPG 2.0 APG 1.5
-Danny lives outside the 3-point line, having taken 126 of his 156 FGAs from downtown (80.8%). And why not ““ he’s shooting 37.3% (47-for-126)
-Danny shot well the last time he saw the Gophers, taking all 9 of his shots from beyond the arc and burying 5 (55.5%). He had 16 points, but also committed 4 turnovers
-Despite taking roughly the same percentage of his shots from outside as he did last year, Danny has shot significantly fewer free throws this season. Last year he took 60 free throws, an average of 1 every 12.5 minutes played. This year he’s shot 11, an average of 1 every 48 minutes played
-Danny is a Finance major
Talk about the Gopher – Penn State matchup on Tubby’s Barn message board.