Penn State guard Talor Battle is one of the more explosive players in the nation. And he proved it again against New Hampshire at the Jordan Center Sunday afternoon.
After taking one shot through the game's first 10 minutes — and seeing his team fall behind by as many as eight points — Battle went off in the final 10 minutes of the first half.
He scored 15 points, making all six shots he took in the stretch, to help Penn State regroup and take a 36-29 lead into the locker room.
Battle finished with 24 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and no turnovers as the Lions cruised to a 70-50 victory. He made 9 of 11 shots and was 3 of 4 from the arc.
“I don't know how you can have a better line,” PSU coach Ed DeChellis said. “And he didn't shoot in the first nine minutes.”
Penn State improved to 4-0 on the season while UNH fell to 1-2.
The Nittany Lions made a school-record 15 3-pointers in a home win over Hartford Thursday, and afterward DeChellis warned that the triples were fool's gold. Sunday's game was an example of what he meant.
PSU struggled from the arc early, making only 1 of 7 3-pointers in the first half. Initially, the Lions tried to compensate by pounding the ball into forward Jamelle Cornley, and it worked to an extent — he finished the half with a dozen points.
But State did not seize control of the game until Battle picked up the pace by pushing the ball in transition and slashing to the basket out of the set offense. The Wildcat guards were not athletic enough to keep up.
“From a speed standpoint, this kid is a jet,” UNH coach Bill Herrion said. “He's good.”
Battle said he was content allowing the flow of the game to come to him.
“I just wanted to pick my spots,” the sophomore explained. “A big thing with me is I'm not going to force my shots [this year].”
The Lions opened the second half with a conventional three-point play by guard Stanley Pringle and a foul-line jumper by David Jackson and never looked back.
The lead reached 24 (70-46) before DeChellis cleared his bench, and State did not score in the final two minutes. By that time, Battle had long since taken a seat on the pine for a well-deserved rest.
Sunday's game marked the third time in four outings he went over 20 points.
“He has a calmness and a confidence,” DeChellis said. “Talor has played really well.”
GAME NOTES
• Cornley added 17 points and eight rebounds.
• Penn State hits the road for the first time Tuesday, taking on Penn in Philadelphia. Since it is Thanksgiving break in Happy Valley, the team will stay in the city for next weekend's final two games of the Philly Hoop Classic, and that will be followed by a road game at Georgia Tech. “Next four games, we'll find out a lot about our team,” DeChellis said.
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