Hoopla Doesn’t Affect Penn State in Long Run

Penn State came out starry-eyed Thursday night for a rare national television appearance that featured the inaugural game at the Bryce Jordan Center at State College, Pa., but recovered in the second half to beat Minnesota, 76-61.

The No. 20 Nittany Lions (12-0 overall, 3-0 in the Big Ten) shot poorly in the first half, but their defense allowed them to take a 32-31 lead at halftime. First-year Coach Jerry Dunn lectured the team at halftime about letting the unusual aspects of the game distract them.

“We’re talking about 17-, 18-, and 19-year-old kids, and it’s easy for them to get caught up in things,” Dunn said. “I was really proud how they came out in the second half and responded.”

Penn State went on a decisive 14-2 run early in the second half sparked by a one-handed, fast-break slam by 6-foot-11 center Calvin Booth, who finished with 17 points and five blocked shots--three in the first three minutes.

Minnesota’s leading scorer Sam Jacobson played despite not practicing all week because of flu. He had no points in 16 minutes.

Penn State lost one of its top scorers in the first half when guard Pete Lisicky injured his Achilles’ tendon in a collision. Lisicky is questionable for Saturday’s game at Northwestern.

Minnesota (9-6, 1-2) has lost to three of the nation’s four unbeaten teams--Clemson, Cincinnati and Penn State--by an average of 21 points.

No. 3 Kansas 69, Florida 54--Frontcourt stalwarts Raef LaFrentz and Scot Pollard scored 25 of their combined 37 points in the second half at Gainesville, Fla., as the Jayhawks (12-1) gradually built on a six-point halftime lead for their fifth consecutive victory.

Center Dametri Hill had 21 points for Florida (5-7), which has lost to three top 10 teams by an average of 20 points.

No. 4 Cincinnati 75, Southern Mississippi 70--The Bearcats (10-0, 2-0) continued to struggle in Conference USA play, needing forward Danny Fortson’s 34-point, 15-rebound performance to beat the Golden Eagles (7-6, 1-1) at Hattiesburg, Miss.

Cincinnati had held off South Florida for 71-69 victory in its conference opener last Saturday after beating its nonconference opponents by an average of 29 points.

Fortson made 11 of 17 shots from the field and 12 of 13 free throws--including four without a miss in the final 40 seconds.

Southern Mississippi stayed close most of the second half by making seven of 10 three-point shots, but went scoreless the final 3:21.

No. 9 Memphis 74, DePaul 55--Center Lorenzen Wright had 23 points and 12 rebounds as the Tigers (10-2, 2-0 in Conference USA) ran their home unbeaten streak to 27 games.

Wright made 10 of 14 from the shots from the field and his interior defense was highly responsible for 31% shooting in the second half by DePaul (7-6, 0-2).

Memphis guard Mingo Johnson had 21 points, while DePaul’s leading scorer, guard Jermaine Watts, had 10--seven below his average.

PACIFIC 10

Oregon State 63, Washington 55--The Huskies (8-4, 1-2) shot 26% from the field and were outrebounded, 40-31, by the smaller Ducks (3-8, 1-1) at Corvallis, Ore.

Washington’s leading scorer, forward Mark Sanford, missed seven of eight three-point shots and finished with 13 points. Guard J.D. Vetter led Oregon State scored 14 points, making eight of nine free throws.

Oregon 70, Washington State 63--Kenya Wilkins scored 20 points and had four free throws in the final 38 seconds as the Ducks (9-4, 2-0) won at Eugene, Ore.

Washington State (7-4, 0-3) was playing without injured all-conference forward Mark Hendrickson and point guard Dominic Ellison, who was suspended for academic reasons Thursday. Guard Shamon Antrum had 20 points--including all seven of the Cougars’ points in the final two minutes--while swingman Issac Fontaine had 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

OTHER GAMES

Forwards Jerald Henderson and Rayshard Allen combined to score 41 points as Tulane (7-4) won its Conference USA opener, a 68-63 decision over South Florida (7-5, 0-2) at New Orleans. . . . Jacksonville (8-4, 4-0) has sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt Conference as Micah Ross’ three-point play with 5.8 seconds left was the difference in a 87-85 victory over Western Kentucky (4-8, 1-3) at Bowling Green, Ky. . . . Visiting Arkansas Little Rock (9-2, 3-1) had a winning streak end at seven games in a 78-65 Sun Belt loss to New Orleans.