University Park, Pa. — A pair of 20-point games in victories over Iowa and No. 15 Wisconsin have helped earn Nittany Lion senior guard Talor Battle (Albany, N.Y.) Big Ten Player of the Week honors for the second time in the career of the conference’s current active career scoring leader.
Battle posted two of his Big Ten leading 41 career 20-point games (11 on the season) and surpassed 1,900 career points scored (1,934) in leading Penn State in scoring in victories over the Hawkeyes and Badgers. Battle averaged 22.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 3.0 apg while shooting 52 percent from the floor and playing all but a few seconds in 79 minutes of action on the week. Battle shares the weekly honor with Michigan’s Darius Morris who helped lead the Wolverines to victory at Michigan State and posted a triple-double in a win over Iowa.
Battle, who stands second in the Big Ten posting 20.4 ppg, scored a game-high 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting in Penn State’s 65-51 victory over Iowa on Wednesday. In the Lions’ upset victory over the Badgers on Saturday he posted 20 of his game-high 22 points in the second half and scored 12 of Penn State’s first 16 points of that half to lead the Lions from nine down to a 38-35 lead on his 24-foot three with 10:51 to play.
Battle’s 27-foot three with 4:51 to play vs. Wisconsin regained the lead for Penn State for good and he iced Penn State’s third victory over a ranked opponent on the year with the Lions’ last five points at the line. The game marked Battle’s 17th straight in double-digits vs. a ranked opponent as he has averaged 18.5 ppg vs. Top 25 teams over that stretch.
The victory over the ranked Badgers placed Penn State in elite company in the nation. The Lions are now tied for first in the Big Ten and fifth nationally for most victories vs. the Top 25 with three on the year. Penn State, St. John’s and Vanderbilt are the only teams to record three wins against the AP Top 25 while being unranked this season. The victory also marked a program first as the Lions defeated three ranked opponents at home in one season for the first time ever and marked just the fifth time in program history, and second in the last three years under Ed DeChellis , that Penn State has defeated three ranked teams in a season.
Penn State fell to Illinois in Champaign on Tuesday. The Nittany Lions will take on the Michigan in a noon tip on Sunday, Feb. 6. It is one of four remaining home games for the Nittany Lions. Penn State will also face Northwestern (Sun., Feb. 13) and No. 18 Minnesota (Thurs., Feb. 17) before a live audience on ESPN before culminating the home slate with a huge match-up vs. current unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Ohio State on Tues., March 1. The Nittany Lions nearly upset the Buckeyes in Columbus earlier this year before falling by three points, 69-66.