Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1322704
| P enn State's victory over 15th-ranked Virginia Tech was so dominant, so complete, that the Nittany Lions couldn't be blamed if they surprised even themselves. Coming off a come-from-ahead 98-92 overtime loss to Seton Hall the Sunday prior, the Nittany Lions traveled to Blacksburg, Va., for a Tuesday night turnaround on Dec. 8 to face a hot Hokies outfit. Already 4-0 on the season with an 81-73 overtime win against Villanova, Virginia Tech represented as difficult a rebound game as the Lions could have asked for. As it turned out, they were up to the challenge, quickly building a huge lead and holding it the rest of the way in a 75- 55 win. Asked whether or not the team needed to make a statement in the wake of its turbulent off-season and the stun- ning loss to the Pirates, interim head coach Jim Ferry rejected the notion out- right. "I think we already believed that. I don't think it needed to be a statement for our program. We believe that. We've had a lot of shared experience and a lot of winning that's been going on here in the past three years," Ferry said. "It was more the oppo- site, that we were disappointed in our- selves after the Seton Hall loss, so I think these guys just came together for each other. "I don't think we care about what everybody else thinks or what the nation thinks. That stuff gets taken care of by itself. Our guys are more about each other. I think they all saw that we didn't do what we're sup- posed to do and we didn't stick together in the Seton Hall game, but we sure did tonight, [which I'm] proud to see." Already engaged in a rock fight of a sea- son that figures to only become more challenging against a stacked Big Ten slate, the Nittany Lions are taking a col- lective approach, and that's been the key to their early successes. Through five games heading into a De- cember finals break, the group featured four guards all scoring in double-figures. Leading the way was Seth Lundy (14.4 ppg), followed by Izaiah Brockington (14.0), Sam Sessoms (11.8) and Myreon Jones (11.8). Behind those four, Myles Dread (8.4), John Harrar (7.6) and Jamari Wheeler (5.8) also were providing fre- quent scoring contributions. In a display M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L CHANCE ENCOUNTERS PSU seizes its opportunity at Virginia Tech but comes up short in Big Ten opener BLOCK PARTY Seth Lundy blocks a shot in the Nittany Lions' 75-55 road vic- tory over Virginia Tech. Photo cour- tesy of Penn State Athletics