Quakers are generally pacifists by nature. But when the men’s basketball team travels to State College, Pa., for the season opener against Penn State tonight, it’s prepared for a fierce Battle.
Junior point guard Talor Battle, that is, who bled the Quakers for 24 points in an 85-73 win last year at the Palestra. Penn coach Glen Miller called him arguably the best guard in the Big Ten and “a guy that can take over a game offensively by himself.”
Battle is certainly a dynamic playmaker off the dribble, and his penetration helped earn him 16 free throw attempts in last season’s contest. Miller was tight-lipped about his specific defensive gameplan this time around, but he has emphasized a focus on team defensive fundamentals in the preseason.
“If he gets by people off the dribble, which probably will happen at some point, we have to be able to step up, cut off the penetration, and take a charge if he’s out of control,” junior forward Jack Eggleston said. “That’s basic defensive principles that we’ve been working on. If somebody gets beat, everybody’s gotta be on the ball side helping out.”
Penn, on the other hand, does not have the luxury of a dominant scorer and must rely on sharing the ball more evenly. Last year the Nittany Lions were able to disrupt Penn’s closest thing to a go-to scorer, junior Tyler Bernardini, who fouled out in 29 minutes and scored only eight points while committing seven turnovers.
Miller’s starting lineup is up in the air, but he did mention that he expects his rotation to run nine or 10 men deep tonight.
“We’re just talking about playing mistake-free basketball,” Miller said. “We’re not talking about turning our players into guys who can break down everybody off the dribble. We’re going to have to be efficient when we get outplayed against this caliber of competition [and] get the most out of every possession on both ends of the floor.”
Eggleston, who led the Quakers with 17 points and nine rebounds in last year’s meeting, could be a factor again since the Nittany Lions graduated their top inside presence, forward Jamelle Cornley. Penn was able to limit center Andrew Jones to only six rebounds and 0-for-4 shooting from the field.
Last year Penn State took a commanding 22-4 lead and stayed on cruise control from there. To avoid another disastrous start, Eggleston stressed that the team must play with poise, while Miller said the key will be to limit turnovers and easy baskets in transition.
“They’re a good team in half-court, but when they get steals and long rebounds, they’re an opportunistic fastbreak team,” he said.
Since Penn students’ distaste for Penn State stems more from brand name than hardwood showdowns, Eggleston fell short of calling the match a rivalry because they play in a different conference.
“It gets a little annoying to get mixed-up with them all the time,” Eggleston said. “I wouldn’t call them a rival or anything because it’s two totally different levels.”
Penn still holds a dominant 31-13 all-time series edge over the Nittany Lions, but Penn State’s program is on the rise. Last year it won a school-record 27 games and took home the NIT championship.
Despite Penn State’s strong season and the potential for Penn to display early season rust, Bernardini said he has only a single expectation tonight — and for the rest of the season.
“We’re planning on winning, nothing else,” he said. “Each game we’re going to try to win, and every single game we play this year, we’re going to win.”
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