- Mar 19, 2006
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NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT
Easing some pain
Rested Lions to face Gators' pressing defense in Gainesville
By Jeff Rice- jrice@centredaily.com
Ed DeChellis wants his team to be aggressive but patient, to attack Florida's full-court pressure but do so under control.
CDT/Nabil K. Mark
Penn State?s Jamelle Cornley, who sat out Thursday?s 82-73 win over Rhode Island, is expected to be back in the Nittany Lions? lineup tonight when they travel to Gainesville, Fla., for a first-ever meeting with the Gators in the NIT quarterfinals. CDT/Nabil K. Mark
Memphis looms after Missouri exorcises past ghosts
3 years after sanctions, Sooners reach round of 16
NIT Capsules
To some, that might sound like a contradiction. Don?t include the Nittany Lions in that group.
Tonight?s 9 p.m. tilt with the Gators (25-10) in Gainesville?s O?Connell Center is all that stands between Penn State (24- 11) and the NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden. How the Nittany Lions handle the Gators? attempts to control the tempo in a building in which the hosts have won 18 of 19 games this season should decide the outcome.
?We have to be in attack mode,? DeChellis said Monday. ?Be aggressive but smart and have some patience. If we get a good shot, we?ve got to take it. If not, we pull it back out and run half court and make them guard.?
Only a few minutes after their coach addressed reporters, two of the players who will play key roles in breaking the Florida press took DeChellis? words out of his mouth.
?We?ve done a good job of taking good shots once we break the press,? sixth man Danny Morrissey said. ?We?re also a smart enough team that if we miss two or three shots in transition after breaking the press, we?re smart enough to bring the ball out and run some offense and have some patience.?
:shrug: total 137
Point guard Talor Battle, who used Penn State?s four-day layoff to treat a lower back injury (not a hip) that kept him out of the final minutes of Thursday?s second-round defeat of Rhode Island, said the Nittany Lions don?t want to get into a track meet with the Gators, who force 15 turnovers and average 77.5 points per game.
?That?s hectic basketball. That?s too wild, all over the place,? Battle said. ?If we break it and there?s nothing there, we?re going to try to get it out and play how we want to play. It?s going to be important for us to do that and not take bad shots.?
After some early turnover troubles, the Nittany Lions carved up Rhode Island?s press on Thursday, winning 82-73 without Jamelle Cornley, who was held out with an injured left shoulder. The senior forward, Penn State?s second-leading scorer, practiced Sunday and Monday and anticipates being available tonight.
?I was OK, I was able to wrap it up and perform,? Cornley said. ?I had a little bit of soreness afterwards but that was expected. I was able to practice fairly well.?
Penn State assistant coach Lewis Preston, who compiles scouting reports for each opponent, had an easy time this week ? he coached on Billy Donovan?s staff for each of the past two seasons.
Of the current bunch, senior guard Walter Hodge is the only player to see significant time on either of the Gators? NCAA champion teams of 2006 or 2007. Florida?s eight-man rotation is composed mainly of underclassmen, led by 6-foot-6 sophomore point guard Nick Calathes, who leads the team in scoring (17.4 ppg) and ranks 11th in the nation in assists per game (6.4).
?The more you watch him, the more you realize how good he is,? DeChellis said. ?Everything goes through him. He makes other guys on the team better, controls the tempo of the game for them.?
The inside game of 6-8 sophomore Alex Tyus (12.5 points, 6.1 rebounds per game) helps balance Florida?s persistent and multi-pronged 3-point attack. The Gators, who have four players with at least 50 made threes this season, shoot from long distance 38 percent of the time and are eight makes from the school?s single-season record of 297, set by the 2007 team.
Florida, which lost seven games by fewer than five points, has been less consistent at the defensive end, allowing more than 70 points 11 times this season and going 4-7 in those games. Through the last five games, however, Donovan has mixed matchup zones with man-to-man (at times, during the same possession) and the Gators have allowed 58.8 points, nearly nine fewer than their season average.
Notes
enn State is 1-1 all-time against Florida and 7-15 against SEC schools. The Gators are 14-25 against Big Ten teams, 6-5 under Donovan. The teams haven?t met since 1982 and have never played in Gainesville. ... The Nittany Lions would tie the school?s single-season wins record with a victory tonight. ... Florida has scored 49 and 48 points in the first half in its first two NIT games.
Easing some pain
Rested Lions to face Gators' pressing defense in Gainesville
By Jeff Rice- jrice@centredaily.com
Ed DeChellis wants his team to be aggressive but patient, to attack Florida's full-court pressure but do so under control.
CDT/Nabil K. Mark
Penn State?s Jamelle Cornley, who sat out Thursday?s 82-73 win over Rhode Island, is expected to be back in the Nittany Lions? lineup tonight when they travel to Gainesville, Fla., for a first-ever meeting with the Gators in the NIT quarterfinals. CDT/Nabil K. Mark
Memphis looms after Missouri exorcises past ghosts
3 years after sanctions, Sooners reach round of 16
NIT Capsules
To some, that might sound like a contradiction. Don?t include the Nittany Lions in that group.
Tonight?s 9 p.m. tilt with the Gators (25-10) in Gainesville?s O?Connell Center is all that stands between Penn State (24- 11) and the NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden. How the Nittany Lions handle the Gators? attempts to control the tempo in a building in which the hosts have won 18 of 19 games this season should decide the outcome.
?We have to be in attack mode,? DeChellis said Monday. ?Be aggressive but smart and have some patience. If we get a good shot, we?ve got to take it. If not, we pull it back out and run half court and make them guard.?
Only a few minutes after their coach addressed reporters, two of the players who will play key roles in breaking the Florida press took DeChellis? words out of his mouth.
?We?ve done a good job of taking good shots once we break the press,? sixth man Danny Morrissey said. ?We?re also a smart enough team that if we miss two or three shots in transition after breaking the press, we?re smart enough to bring the ball out and run some offense and have some patience.?
:shrug: total 137
Point guard Talor Battle, who used Penn State?s four-day layoff to treat a lower back injury (not a hip) that kept him out of the final minutes of Thursday?s second-round defeat of Rhode Island, said the Nittany Lions don?t want to get into a track meet with the Gators, who force 15 turnovers and average 77.5 points per game.
?That?s hectic basketball. That?s too wild, all over the place,? Battle said. ?If we break it and there?s nothing there, we?re going to try to get it out and play how we want to play. It?s going to be important for us to do that and not take bad shots.?
After some early turnover troubles, the Nittany Lions carved up Rhode Island?s press on Thursday, winning 82-73 without Jamelle Cornley, who was held out with an injured left shoulder. The senior forward, Penn State?s second-leading scorer, practiced Sunday and Monday and anticipates being available tonight.
?I was OK, I was able to wrap it up and perform,? Cornley said. ?I had a little bit of soreness afterwards but that was expected. I was able to practice fairly well.?
Penn State assistant coach Lewis Preston, who compiles scouting reports for each opponent, had an easy time this week ? he coached on Billy Donovan?s staff for each of the past two seasons.
Of the current bunch, senior guard Walter Hodge is the only player to see significant time on either of the Gators? NCAA champion teams of 2006 or 2007. Florida?s eight-man rotation is composed mainly of underclassmen, led by 6-foot-6 sophomore point guard Nick Calathes, who leads the team in scoring (17.4 ppg) and ranks 11th in the nation in assists per game (6.4).
?The more you watch him, the more you realize how good he is,? DeChellis said. ?Everything goes through him. He makes other guys on the team better, controls the tempo of the game for them.?
The inside game of 6-8 sophomore Alex Tyus (12.5 points, 6.1 rebounds per game) helps balance Florida?s persistent and multi-pronged 3-point attack. The Gators, who have four players with at least 50 made threes this season, shoot from long distance 38 percent of the time and are eight makes from the school?s single-season record of 297, set by the 2007 team.
Florida, which lost seven games by fewer than five points, has been less consistent at the defensive end, allowing more than 70 points 11 times this season and going 4-7 in those games. Through the last five games, however, Donovan has mixed matchup zones with man-to-man (at times, during the same possession) and the Gators have allowed 58.8 points, nearly nine fewer than their season average.
Notes
enn State is 1-1 all-time against Florida and 7-15 against SEC schools. The Gators are 14-25 against Big Ten teams, 6-5 under Donovan. The teams haven?t met since 1982 and have never played in Gainesville. ... The Nittany Lions would tie the school?s single-season wins record with a victory tonight. ... Florida has scored 49 and 48 points in the first half in its first two NIT games.
