Penn State’s Geary Claxton misfired on the Nittany Lions’ opening possession, but on a play that seemed to repeat itself throughout Wednesday’s game, the 6-foot-5 guard rebounded his miss and made the put-back.
Penn State dominated Northwestern on the glass, despite having no starter taller than 6-foot-6.
The Nittany Lions enjoyed a 36-25 rebounding edge, causing the Wildcats the most problems on the offensive glass. Penn State corralled 14 offensive rebounds, leading to 14 second-chance points.
NU lost the rebounding battle for the 11th time in 14 games this season.
“They outhustled us and outscrapped us,” NU coach Bill Carmody said. “I’m very disappointed.”
Claxton led Penn State with 10 rebounds ,including four on offense, while freshman forward Jamelle Cornley added nine rebounds, six coming on the offensive end.
After the Cats cut the Nittany Lions’ lead to two points with 10:20 remaining, Cornley stole the momentum and the energy from the crowd with a put-back to push the lead to four.
On NU’s next possession, freshman guard Sterling Williams hit one of two free throws, but next time down the floor it was Cornley fighting off the NU run with an offensive rebound and layup with just fewer than eight minutes left in the game.
Carmody said Penn State outworked his team, winning loose balls and the battle in the paint.
“It’s just about boxing out and getting to the ball,” Carmody said. “Like I said, I just think they outscrapped us.”
NU’s two tallest players, 6-8 forward Bernard Cote and 6-10 center Vince Scott, combined for nine rebounds in 40 minutes. Senior guard Mohamed Hachad, the team leader heading into Wednesday’s game with 5.2 rebounds per game, had five in 22 minutes.
Last season in a crushing 65-62 loss at Penn State, former Nittany Lions’ forward Aaron Johnson outrebounded the entire Wildcats’ roster 21-17.
Fourteen games into the 2005-06 season, NU has won the rebounding battle just three times, in wins against Charlotte, Florida Atlantic and DePauw.
In the Cats’ nine wins, they have been outrebounded by an average of nearly six rebounds, while in their five losses, they have lost the battle by an average of 8.6 rebounds per game.
The Cats will need to overcome its rebounding woes with a game Saturday on the road at Wisconsin. The Badgers are third in the Big Ten in rebounding, averaging 38.2 per game.
“Everyone gets offensive rebounds against us,” Carmody said. “I need to find someone that can get rebounds in there for us.”
Reach Scott Duncan at [email protected].
