New Hampshire DB Jake Kiley Commits to Penn State
July 26, 2011 – | No Comment

States like New Hampshire are often overlooked by college recruiters scouring the northeast. With a population of a little over 1.3 million (barely 14.5% of the population of New York City), the talent pool in …

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Incredible Comeback brings Penn State to 16-5 (5-3)

Submitted by on January 24, 20092 Comments
1st 2nd Final
Iowa 29 30 59
Penn State 22 41 63

cornley

For the first 30 or so minutes of this game, Penn State couldn’t have looked any worse.  They were missing open jumpers, blowing coverages, and playing as sloppy a game as could be.  There was no intensity, no fire.  I was not watching the same Penn State team that had just beaten Michigan on Tuesday.  Just like after the win at Georgia Tech, this team seemed like they were going to crash and burn like they did against Temple.

It was an unlikely spark that set Penn State on fire.  After suffering through awful call after awful call, Jamelle Cornley finally snapped.  I don’t know what he said, but it was obviously enough to get him T’d up.  And that became the team’s rallying cry.

Jamelle put it best, in a quote to the Associated Press:

“That’s what sparked me,” he said. “That’s when I said, ‘If you want to give me a technical foul, I’m going to make sure we’re going to fight,’ and that’s what we did.”

They trailed by 13, at 54-41 with under 6 minutes left, but that’s when they started playing Penn State basketball.  A trapping fullcourt defense led to turnovers and easy hoops on the other end, Jamelle Cornley took over in the low post, and the role players starting hitting their shots.  By the Penn State finally tied it up, and then took the lead with a minute and change to play, we saw that fire and intensity that has this team firmly on the bubble of the NCAA tournament.  Winning a tough game with tough play is what gets a team over the hump, and Penn State has everything to be proud of.

Taylor Battle had 20, 6, and 6, but Jamelle Cornley was the MVP of this one.  His 24 points were all huge, especially his 10 in a row at one point late in the second, but more importantly, his leadership can not be questioned.  He was vocal in the huddles, and got the crowd pumped up at every opportunity.  I really hope Penn State makes the tournament this year, because that’s been Cornley’s goal from the beginning, and he deserves it.  Throughout the comeback, after every big play, he was screaming to us students: “This is my shit, this is my shit.”  When he leaves, there will be a gaping hole, not just at power forward, but at Captain.

Some assorted notes: Even though it was a canning weekend, the BJC was pretty packed.  A lot of that was community residents and families; the non-student section was twice as packed as it has been at any other game.  Of course, the student section was a little thin, but once the comeback started coming we were loud.

I wonder why the Nittany Lions have to be down by double digits before making a big run.  We saw the same thing against Michigan State; a late run to get it close.  The only difference was that Iowa couldn’t make the clutch plays: one player missed a wide open three to tie it with 20 seconds left.

Iowa’s man D stymied Penn State for most of the game.  Ed DeChellis’s offense isn’t predicated off of much movement, and for whatever reason the two Andrews, Jones and Ott, didn’t get much playing time to post up down low.  When a team can control the tempo and get Penn State in the halfcourt, they’ll control the play.  Once Penn State gets out on the run, they can play with anyone in the conference.

Oh, and by the way, Big Ten reffing doesn’t just suck in football, apparently.  This is three straight home games where the refs were blowing calls left and right; some in our favor and some against.  I don’t want to sound like a whiner, because I’ll admit a bad call that helps ustoo.  But still, something has got to be done about the officials in this conference.

Charlie wrote earlier this week that he was officially pumped up about this basketball team.  Well, Charlie, this win proves that we fans have every right to be optimistic.  We will fight and claw our way to every win.  We will play hard against any team in the conference.  This is a signature win maybe in the history of Penn State basketball, and hopefully it’s one that the selection committee will remember come early March.

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  • http://quebecpenspinning.com/ Charlie

    Welcome back Devon! I was refreshing the score like a madman from my way to Vegas tonight and I cheered in the car like an idiot when we took the lead with the 3-pointer. Even without watching the game, what a win! For the first time I am actually watching the bracket predictions for March.

  • Charlie

    Welcome back Devon! I was refreshing the score like a madman from my way to Vegas tonight and I cheered in the car like an idiot when we took the lead with the 3-pointer. Even without watching the game, what a win! For the first time I am actually watching the bracket predictions for March.