Coach Chambers already has four future Penn State basketball players committed to the program. I've admittedly done a poor job keeping tabs on their individual seasons, but with district and state playoffs just around the corner, now is as good a time as any to see how our future Lions are doing this year.
Akosa Maduegbunam - Winchendon School - Winchendon, MA
The former Charlestown High star and Boston native has spent his senior year at the Winchendon School, which plays in the NEPSAC (New England Prep School Athletic Council). If you are unfamiliar with the NEPSAC, the league easily produces the most D-1 basketball talent year-in and year-out. Unfortunately, this year's Winchendon roster couldn't match up with some of the other powerhouses on their schedule like Brewster Academy and Northfield Mount Hermon. Their season is wrapping up as they're currently just 8-21 on the year. You can find a select few game statistics on Winchedon's website, but nothing's complete so I have no numbers to offer on Akosa's season.
Lions247 caught up with him last month. There's also some film out there on him, thanks to The Basketball Diary. TBD filmed both of Winchendon's games in the National Prep Showcase back in November. Check out the full games on youtube against Wilbraham & Monson and New Hope Academy.
Brandon Taylor - Trenton Catholic Academy - Trenton, NJ
Brandon plays for a stacked TCA team that features at least four other D-1 prospects in addition to himself. Fellow seniors Chazz Patterson (Mount St. Mary's) and Charles Cooke (James Madison) are already signed, and 2013 PF AJ Sumbry and 2015 G Malachi Richardson will also receive D-1 scholarships in the future. TCA is 19-4 on the season and ranked #6 in the state of New Jersey. It's been impossible finding complete stats on TCA's season, as apparently that 19-4 record is missing the results of some games. He did score 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in his last game.
I guess it takes a Big Ten Championship to finally get some recognition for this Lady Lions team. Maggie Lucas earned this honor more for her 28-point outing against Purdue earlier in the week, but also chimed in with a double-digit game in the Reagan-Smashing of Ohio State.
From the Big Ten release:
• Helped Penn State secure at least a share of the Big Ten Championship after averaging 20 points on the week and recording her first career double-double in the clinching win against Ohio State
• Scored a game-high 28 points, shooting 5-of-7 from 3-point range, to lead Penn State to a road win against nationally ranked Purdue on Thursday
• Recorded her first career double-double against Ohio State, scoring 12 points and pulling in 10 rebounds, securing a piece of the Lady Lions’ first Big Ten title since 2004 and the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament
• Claims her first career Big Ten Player of the Week honor
• Last Penn State Player of the Week: Tyra Grant (Jan. 27, 2009)
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"All of these kids came here with the promise that we'd be in this position, but they had nothing to go on as [I was] a first time head coach. All of these kids come from all over the country - California, Texas, Atlanta, Chicago - and we said `Hey, come to central Pennsylvania and let's win a Big Ten title.'" - Coquese Washington, Feb. 20, 2012.
And that's exactly what they did last night.
Penn State women's basketball is back, proving so in dominant fashion last night against No. 8 Ohio State in the Bryce Jordan Center. In a one-game playoff for the 2011-12 regular season conference title, No. 11 Penn State positively dismantled the Buckeyes from start to finish, 84-66. Three Lady Lions logged double-doubles and all five starters finished the night scoring double digits on the visitors.
With their win over Ohio State, the Lady Lions clinched the #1 seed in this year's Big Ten Tournament, which also gives them a first round bye.
After a competitive start by both teams, Penn State literally took the ball and ran... and ran... and ran. Using an 11-2 run, the Lady Lions led 20-11 seven and a half minute into the game. But by halftime, that lead would steadily grow to 15, as Penn State was up 45-30 at the break.
The Lady Lions broke open their first 20-point lead in just under six minutes into the second half at 58-38. Ohio State would tread water just enough to keep Penn State about 20 points ahead the rest of the game, but it seemed like every time the Buckeyes created an opening, a Lady Lion was there to slam it shut:
A Penn State foul allowed a four-point Buckeye run, 58-42, but Penn State scored five of the next seven points to go back up by 20 (63-43) by the 11-minute mark. Ohio State took off on a 6-2 run, but Prahalis fouled Lucas, who sparked a 7-0 Lady Lion run to increase Penn State's lead to 21 (70-49) with 8:06 to play.
The teams traded baskets for almost four minutes with Penn State maintaining at least an 18-point lead. Nickson made two shots at the line to make it 79-59. Ohio State's Darryce Moore also made a trip to the foul line where she hit both baskets, but Greene scored the next three points off a layup and a free throw to give Penn State its 21-point lead back (82-61). Ohio State closed out the game with a 5-2 run, but it was too little too late as the Lady Lions sealed the 84-66 win.
Junior NIkki Greene set career marks with 25 points and 15 rebounds. That second number proved to be the deciding factor in the team stats. Penn State totally owned the boards last night, nearly doubling up on Ohio State's rebound total, 60-32.The home team also had a ridiculous 29-0 advantage on second-chance points.
Junior Mia Nickson (18/15) and sophomore Maggie Lucas (12/10) joined Greene with their own double-double games. It was Lucas' first of her career, as she is usually making her mark from beyond the 3-point line.
Greene, Nickson and Lucas combined to out-rebound the entire Ohio State team.
Usually when you say a win was "a team effort," it's not quite so literal as what Coquese Washington was able to coax out of her squad last night.
"Across the board, I think we have a lot of players who can put up points," Washington said during the post game press conference. "We strive to be a team that plays smart and whatever's available, we're going to take it. A lot of nights, Maggie Lucas is available and she's able to get shots but tonight, she wasn't and that's okay. To her credit, she doesn't get bothered by it. She just keeps playing and says, 'Ok, well, it's Nikki's night.' Tonight was a night of the post and our guards were very pleased to sit back and watch them go to work."
All five starters reached double figures for the Lady Lions. Senior Zhaque Gray finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists, while junior Alex Bentley threw in 10 more points of her own.
The victory over Ohio State gives Penn State their first regular-season title since 2004 when they advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Lions are now 32-21 all-time, and 17-6 at home against the Buckeyes.
Stats via GoPSUSports.com
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I mentioned in my preview that Wisconsin was due for some regression towards the mean in regards to their home shooting percentages. The Badgers had been shooting just 22% from 3 in Big Ten play at the Kohl Center, so of course they made 11 of their 22 attempts yesterday. None were bigger than Jared Berggren's two down the stretch to end another big PSU run that was needed just to get out of the massive hole they put themselves in. Unfortunately Jon Graham hasn't had much experience chasing 6'11" posts around screens on the perimeter, and Berggren made them pay.
I didn't think PSU played as poorly as the score said in the first, but that's what happens when you don't make the open shots while your opponent catches fire from behind the arc. Wisconsin made seven first-half threes that busted the game open. Some were due to PSU failing to pick up certain shooters from 3-point line, but Wisconsin also was in a great rhythm in their swing offense. When they're clicking with everyone on the floor capable of hitting a three-pointer, they're very tough to guard.
The lead got all the way to 20 in the second half before PSU mounted another big run. They cut it to as low as 5 after a 17-2 stretch but were unable to get closer. Berggren's threes twice pushed Wisconsin's lead back to 3 possessions. What was really encouraging, however, was PSU's comeback included zero three-point shots. They were getting great looks inside to Jon Graham, who had his best game in a Penn State uniform. If Graham made one more foul shot, he would have had his first career double-double, but he still finished with 9 points and 10 rebounds. Believe it or not, Penn State outscored Wisconsin 32-8 in the lane.
If you haven't read Eric's preview, please do so.
Look, we all know that today's rematch between Penn State and Wisconsin is not the top priority for most of us. THON is about to end in just a few minutes (as I type this) and hopefully break the $10 million barrier, and rumors of LIN-SANITY's demise have been greatly exaggerated. However, we cater to more than just "most of us" here at BSD, so here is your obligatory live game thread. Feel free to talk about anything THON-related though as well,
Tipoff is at 4:00 PM ET on BTN (or these local radio affiliates, Sirius Ch 92, XM Ch 191). Same open thread rules apply (no porn/racism/sexism/homophobia/trolling, no links to illegal video feeds).
| Who: | #15 Wisconsin Badgers (19-7, 8-5) |
| When: | Today, 4:00 PM |
| Where: | Kohl Center |
| TV: | Big Ten Network |
| Radio: | Affiliates, Sirius - CH 92, XM - CH 191 |
Coach Chambers and the basketball team is on the dreaded road once again for their first trip to Madison this season. The vaunted Kohl Center hasn't performed up to its usual standards this season. Wisconsin has just a 3-3 record at home in conference play, losing to Michigan State, Ohio State, and Iowa.
In the first meeting between these teams, Wisconsin gritted out a tough 52-46 win behind Jordan Taylor's late heroics. The game went by the numbers as both teams stunk up the floor with their shooting. It was a very ugly game until a nice showdown between two of the Big Ten's best point guards led to an exciting finish.
Since that game nearly three weeks ago, Wisconsin has only played 3 games where they went 1-2. They lost games to Ohio State and Michigan State which essentially knocked them out of the conference-title race, but they're still firmly entrenched in the Top-25, a lock for the NCAA tournament, and just one win away from their 6th straight 20+ win season.
Just like that, Penn State has soared out of the Big Ten basement and won two conference games in a row. After a strong first half that saw Penn State hold a 14-point halftime lead, Iowa mounted a comeback behind a barrage of Matt Gatens' threes. PSU was out of rhythm on offense in the second half, but Tim Frazier, Jermaine Marshall, and even Jon Graham made big shots down the stretch to hold off the Hawkeyes.
I mentioned in the preview that Penn State needed to attack Iowa inside. They came out strong for the first time in a while doing exactly that and built a 10-3 lead early thanks to some Jon Graham put backs. But then they felt the need to miss 3 consecutive three-pointers and Iowa was right back in it. Once PSU went back to the basket, they blew open a 25-12 lead thanks to a 10-0 run with 8 of those points coming in the paint.
The first half damage was done with a hindered Tim Frazier. After scoring 4 early points, Tim picked up his 2nd foul just 11 minutes into the game, which led to like 20 substitutions the rest of the half. Chambers did a good job subbing Frazier in for offense and out for defense when he could, and Matt Glover also did a good job running the show while Frazier was out.
The second half was a different story on offense. Cammeron Woodyard picked up his 4th foul early and had to sit for 10 minutes. He was never able to get in a rhythm after scoring 12 first half points. He actually didn't score again until the last free throw of the game, and then trolled all students by missing the Big Mac clincher. However, Tim Frazier picked up the slack, scoring 14 points in the second period on just 7 shots. Jermaine Marshall also hung in there and hit a huge three with 1:45 to go after shooting just 1 for 6 prior in the half.
It's ATTITUDE vs. RAGE: Round 2 as Penn State and Iowa engage in a grudge match at the Jordan Center. Hopefully, things will go much better for the Nittany Lions since this game is at home tonight. Also, if you like the remote possibility that Fran might pile-drive a chair again (see video above), then tune in to ESPNU at 9:00 PM ET to see how things unfold...
What's that? You're not one of the 50 people who gets ESPNU? Dios mio, man. Lucky for you, it's 2012, which means you can watch the game streaming live on the Internets via ESPN3.com. If you're still an unfortunate soul who can't watch, you can listen to Steve Jones and Dick Jerardi whisper sweet nothings in your ears on these local radio affiliates, Sirius Ch 113, or XM Ch 190.
EDIT: So, I'm an idiot and didn't realize the game tipped off at 8:00 PM ET. Open thread will remain as is for the second half.
And remember boys and girls: No porn, no comments that would draw praise from the KKK or Westboro Baptist Church, and no links to any streaming video feed other than ESPN3's.
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