Battle, Penn St. drop cold-shooting Northwestern
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Talor Battle had a sour look on his face for someone who just reached a rare Big Ten milestone.
The high-scoring Penn State guard has a much more important goal on his mind.
Bothered by a sore left ankle, Battle still had 19 points to pass 2,000 for his career, and the Nittany Lions overwhelmed poor-shooting Northwestern in a decisive second-half run for a 65-41 win Sunday.
It was the Wildcats' lowest-scoring effort since a 70-37 loss at Illinois on Jan. 27, 2008.
The Wildcats finished 18 of 52 shooting (34 percent), including 2 of 21 from 3-point range (9 percent) after having entered the day third in the league in 3-point shooting (38 percent).
Penn State also outrebounded the Wildcats 33-21.
“We're a perimeter team; we just couldn't knock them down today,” Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. “Next shot you get a little tighter, and the next shot you get more tight ... the human element was involved in this.”
Northwestern's John Shurna was held to 7 points, more than 10 below his season average.
The game was tight for the first nine-plus minutes with the Wildcats finding holes to the lane for easy buckets. Shurna's short jumper with 12:12 left gave Northwestern its last lead, 13-12.
Penn State adjusted and raced away from there, with Jeff Brooks hitting a jumper in the paint and Battle converting an offensive rebound to give the Nittany Lions the lead for good, 16-13 with 10:02 left.
Tim Frazier had 12 points and 7 assists, and Brooks scored 14 in his first start since dislocating his right shoulder nearly two weeks ago to help the Nittany Lions (13-11, 6-7 Big Ten) snap a three-game losing streak.
With just three weeks left in the regular season, almost every game is a must-win for Penn State to keep alive its dwindling NCAA Tournament hopes.
So excuse Battle if he's not entirely enjoying the acclaim of joining Wisconsin's Alando Tucker as the only two Big Ten players over the past decade to reach the 2,000-point mark.
“I would trade every one of those to get to the NCAA Tournament,” Battle said.
JerShon Cobb had 10 points to lead Northwestern (14-10, 4-9), which started 0-for-15 from 3-point territory before Cobb hit from long range with 9:35 left.
But the game was all but decided by then with the Nittany Lions leading by as much as 25 after opening the second half with a 21-7 run.
Reserves littered the lineup for much of the last few minutes of a rare Big Ten blowout for the Nittany Lions.
Good thing, too, for Battle, who has dealt with ankle problems throughout his career. On Friday, the pesky 6-footer turned his left ankle so badly in practice that he had to be helped off the court by two teammates.
Coach Ed DeChellis wasn't sure he would have his leader available Sunday and kept close watch in pregame shootaround to make sure Battle could go.
Did he ever.
The senior playing in his third-to-last regular-season home game of his stellar career hit a wide-open 3 from about 28 feet for a 38-18 lead with 15 minutes left.
“He's a heck of a player,” Carmody said. “He gets separation from his guy, from his defender (better) than anybody in the conference.”
Mike Capocci then missed a 3 that was rebounded by David Jackson. The ball eventually ended up in the hands — again — of Battle on the break who pulled up at the wing for a 3 over the outstetched arm of Capocci for a 23-point lead.
In typical fashion, Battle shook off questions about his latest milestone and lauded the contributions of the team's three other double-digit scorers. DeChellis hopes the way Penn State won — pulling away convincingly down the stretch — gives a much-needed confidence boost to players still hoping to extend their season well into mid-March.
“I talked to them for two days that this was a game we had to have,” DeChellis said, “especially when you stub your toe the way we did the last three games.”