.png&width=24&type=webp)
Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Penn State
Players Mentioned
Tigers Cold Again In First Half, Penn State Wins 61-38
December 12, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Princeton was ice cold from the field in the first half for a second straight game Wednesday night at Penn State, shooting just 20% from the field overall and 1 for 14 from three-point range, and the end result was a 61-38 win for the Nittany Lions before a crowd of 6,188 at the Bryce Jordan Center.
The Tigers (2-7) tied the game at 9-9 on Lincoln Gunn's three-point shot with 10:35 left in the first half but didn't score again until Nick Lake's floater inside 10 minutes later. Princeton went 0 for 10 from the field in that time and committed seven turnovers.
"We actually thought we got good shots, some good looks for Zach (Finley) and our perimeter players but we didn't make any of them," said Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson. "We tried to come back to Zach and balance it out and get some penetration, but at some point you have to knock some shots down. Right now we're going through a real tough stretch as far as shooting goes, but we're going to stay with our stuff and continue to do the things we do and shots will go down for us."
In the meantime, the Nittany Lions (5-4) slowly pulled away. Geary Claxton, who led Penn State with 21 points, scored a pair of baskets inside to make it 13-9 with 9:30 left, and he would put back his own miss with 1:05 on the clock to make it 23-9.
Ahead 26-11 at halftime after Mike Walker hit a deep three-pointer from the right wing as time expired, Penn State scored a pair of baskets thanks to second-chance opportunities to open the second half, a three-pointer by Claxton and a layup inside by Andrew Jones, to take a 31-13 lead three minutes in.
Claxton shot 10 for 16 from the field and added 10 rebounds and five assists for the Nittany Lions, who shot 62% in the second half after making just 11 of 31 shots in the first half.
"Good luck to the Big 10 in guarding Claxton, he's a heck of a player," said Johnson. "He can score inside, get second-chance baskets and do everything on the court."
Princeton cut its deficit to 43-27 after Finley scored in the lane with 9:22 left, but the Nittany Lions then used a 10-0 run later in the half to take a 28-point lead in the final four minutes.
"Penn State did a nice job adjusting to our zone looks, and we didn't make it hard enough for them to score in the second half," said Johnson. "That's a little disappointing, because I thought our effort there was real good in the first half."
"Defensively, we did a nice job of keeping them away from backdoor layups but we need to clean up some of the open looks they got from three-point range for our next game," said Penn State coach Ed DeChellis. "Offensively, I think we went 15 for 17 on layups in the second half and you're not going to do much better than that."
Finley scored a team-high 14 points and had six rebounds for Princeton, which shot just 31% for the game and 4 for 25 from three-point range. He also had six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
"It's never good to see 11 points on the scoreboard in any half, but Penn State did a good job defensively and we didn't make enough of the good opportunities that we got," said Finley. "All of us can take advantage of our opportunities, big guys and perimeter guys, to open up the game for all of us."
Lincoln Gunn added 13 points and seven rebounds for Princeton, which shot just 31% from the field for the game. Kyle Koncz shot just 1 for 9 from three-point range for Princeton, while Noah Savage was 0 for 7 from the field and 0 for 4 from behind the arc."
"I know Kyle is struggling right now, but he's doing lots of other things on the court that are good for us," said Johnson. "I think he will relax a little bit and get back to being the kind of shooter he can be."
Princeton hosts Manhattan Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m. in the second half of a women's/men's doubleheader at Jadwin Gym, with the women playing Syracuse beginning at 2 p.m.