Michigan
9-20, 5-12
Penn State
14-14, 6-10
Harris' Career-Best 29 Points Not Enough at Penn State
3/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Site: State College, Pa. (Bryce Jordan Center)
Score: Penn State 69, Michigan 61
Records: U-M (9-20, 5-12 Big Ten), Penn State (14-14, 6-10 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 9 -- vs. Purdue (Crisler Arena), 4 p.m.
Boxscore | Postgame Notes
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. C Despite a career-best 29 points from freshman Manny Harris(Detroit, Mich./Redford HS) and 11 from freshman backcourt partner Kelvin Grady(Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids HS), the University of Michigan men's basketball team could not counter the hot outside shooting from Penn State's Talor Battle and Mike Walker as the Maize and Blue dropped a 69-61 decision tonight (Saturday, March 9) at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Harris led all scorers as he was 8-for-21 from the field, including a career-best five three-point field goals, and 8-for-11 from the free throw line. He added five rebounds, two steals and an assist in 37 minutes. Grady posted his sixth double-figure scoring game of his career, shooting 3-for-5 from three-point range and adding three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 32 minutes. For Penn State, Battle closed the game with career bests of 28 points and 13 rebounds for his first career double-double.
In a game that was a tale of two different halves, Michigan and Penn State combined for 21 first-half fouls and a technical foul apiece as PSU's Jamelle Cornley and U-M coach John Beilein each picked up a techinical. As the half became a back-and-forth, classic Big Ten game, the Wolverines and Nittany Lions exchanged baskets throughout the 10 minutes with neither taking a significant lead.
The game shifted into a freshman guard battle as PSU's Battle, who closed the first half with 15 points, and U-M's Harris, who had 13 first-half points, started to take over the game for their respective squads. With the fouls piling up for both teams the Nittany Lions took the first advantage and built a nine-point lead before Harris helped U-M tie the game at 28-28 with 4:24 left. A triple from Battle and another from Walker helped Penn State rally down the stretch of the half as the Nittany Lions closed the half on a 9-1 run to lead 37-29 at the break.
Trailing by eight after the first half, the Wolverines battled all the way back to tie the score at 47-47 with 11:20 remaining thanks in part to Harris and Grady knocking down long-range buckets. U-M took the lead, 49-47, for just the fourth time of the game after a bucket from senior Ron Coleman(Romulus, Mich./Romulus HS). Walker, who finished with 15 points off the bench, gave the Nittany Lions a one-point lead with a three-pointer with the shot clock expiring, and PSU caught fire, hitting six straight long-range buckets, including three from Battle, to expand its lead to 13 points, 62-49, with under five minutes to go.
The Wolverines did not give up and fought throughout the final five minutes, but PSU broke U-M's pressure down the stretch and closed out the eight-point win, 69-61. The win for PSU snapped an 11-game slide against U-M.
With no midweek game this coming week, the Maize and Blue will have a week to prepare for the Big Ten regular-season finale against Purdue on Sunday (March 9). Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m., and the game will televised nationally on CBS. The game will also be senior day for Coleman, David Merritt and manager Gerrit Chernoff, who will be honored in a pregame ceremony. It will be U-M's second meeting of the season against Purdue, which won the first tilt, 65-58, Jan. 5 in West Lafayette, Ind.
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
