And so it begins.
With football officially over, Penn State fans will spend the winter months anxiously waiting for National Letter-of-Intent Day and eventually, spring practice followed by the Blue-White Game in April. Until then, Nittany Nation will have to kill time by watching basketball.
This season, Ed DeChellis’ crew has started strong, posting wins over Michigan State and Illinois at home.
In today’s edition of Morelli OnLion, we’ll take a closer look at the state of the hoops program. We’ll also have a little bit of football news.
A Rousing Start
The Penn State men’s basketball team is off to a 10-7 overall start and is 3-3 in Big Ten play. After knocking off ranked teams in Michigan State and Illinois, the Nittany Lions visited Ohio State on Saturday with hopes of knocking off the Buckeyes.
It nearly happened.
Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger gave the Buckeyes (18-0, 5-0) a three-point play to give the Bucks a 69-66 lead late in the game. Penn State guard Talor Battle had an opportunity to tie the game, but his three-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer fell short.
“That’s a situation where you can only get one shot, you can only do so much,” Battle said. “By the time I got control of it, I looked up at the clock and there were three seconds left. So I didn’t have time to rock the kid and try to get off a clean shot. I had to fake and step through and it was not a very good look.”
So far this season, Battle has been the heart and soul of the Nittany Lions. He’s the Big Ten’s leading scorer, averaging 20.9 points per game. On Saturday, however, he struggled. He finished the afternoon with 15 points. He was 5-of-17 from the field and just 1-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Against the No. 2 team in the nation, the Lions went toe-to-toe with the conference heavyweight before hitting the canvas. Ohio State got a bunch of points from Aaron Craft, an unlikely hero.
“You have to pick your poison and who are you going to leave open? I don’t want to leave those other guys (open),” DeChellis said. “So we tried to leave (Craft) and he made some shots tonight. If he misses some shots, then maybe it’s a different story. Give the kid credit.”
This Penn State basketball team is hard to figure out. It loses to Maine at home, but wins back-to-back games over ranked teams for the first time since 1954. So where is this Nittany Lion squad?
Quite frankly, it’s too early to tell.
If Penn State continues to knock off ranked teams, it will be hard to keep out of the NCAA tournament. At the very least, an NIT bid appears likely.
But let’s face facts: This team is pretty much a one-trick pony. When Battle plays well, the Lions win. When he falters (as he did on Saturday), they lose. They will, quite simply, go as far as Battle can take them.
We’ll find out a lot more about the Lions on Wednesday night, when they visit No. 8 Purdue.
On A Roll
The Penn State women’s basketball team is off to a flying start under fourth-year coach Coquese Washington. The latest victim was Illinois at the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday afternoon. The Lady Lions are now 15-4 overall, 4-1 in the Big Ten.
The big story as far as the Lady Lions are concerned is the play of true freshman Maggie Lucas. She leads the Lady Lions in scoring, averaging nearly 17 points per game. She’s come off the bench for the Lady Lions to post those impressive figures.
I had a chance to sit down with Lucas prior to the season and I can tell you that she exudes confidence without being cocky. That’s rare for a Division I-A athlete, but Lucas is somehow able to keep her ego in check.
She’s certainly pushing for a starting job, but when Washington is getting the type of production from her like she is off the bench, it’s hard to argue with her gameplan.
Penn State has four players averaging in double digits. If the Lady Lions can keep doing that, there’s no doubt they’ll be hosting a couple of NCAA tournament games come March. Teams have started fast under Washington before only to collapse, but this team looks different.
Nittany Notes
Penn State will have a pair of players taking part in the 86th East-West Shrine Game. Tailback Evan Royster and defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu will play in the annual contest.
Royster has enjoyed quite a career in Happy Valley. He is Penn State’s all-time leading rusher with 3,932 yards. He is the first Penn State running back to have three 1,000-yard seasons. This season, Royster racked up 1,014 yards and six TDs on the ground. He also caught 25 passes for 202 yards and a pair of scores.
He’s a three-time all-Big Ten Conference selection.
Ogbu is a three-year starter at defensive tackle. He was an all-Big Ten Conference selection in 2010 and was a co-captain for the Lions as well. He had 8½ tackles for loss and 48 tackles total.
The game is scheduled for Saturday at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Fla. The game will be televised by the NFL Network.
Chris Morelli is a writer/editor who lives in Centre County and covers Penn State athletics. He is also a regular on “Sports Central,” which airs on ESPN Radio in Altoona and State College. E-mail him at morellionlion@gmail.com. Also, be sure to check out Morelli OnLion on Facebook!
