Sports

NIT

By Dave Konopki dkonopki@timesleader.com
Assistant Sports Editor

The gut-wrenching disappointment hasn’t gone away, said Talor Battle.

But the Penn State sophomore says he and his teammates will need to put aside the “awful feeling” of disappointment at not being selected to play in the NCAA tournament when the ball is tipped tonight at the Bryce Jordan Center.

“I don’t know if it’s behind me yet,” said Battle. “It’s only been a few hours. Once I go on the court, my only focus will be on George Mason. I have no choice but to get over it.”

The Nittany Lions (22-11) face George Mason (22-10) at 8 p.m. in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament. Penn State enters the 32-team tournament as a No. 2 seed, while the Patriots are a seventh seed. The first three rounds are played on the home court of the higher seeded team, while the semifinals and championship game will be played at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The game against the Patriots will come a little more than 48 hours after the Lions failed to receive one of the 32 at-large bids for the NCAA tournament.

Hardly enough time for the pain to go away.

“Last night was one of the longest nights in my life,” said senior Jamelle Cornley during a teleconference Monday afternoon.

“It’s just a bad feeling,” added Battle, who leads the Lions in scoring with a 16.8 per game average. “We worked so hard and played so well. But we’re in the NIT. I hope we can get to the Garden.”

With plenty of big-name programs in the tournament, the Lions can’t afford to feel sorry for themselves, said Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis.

“The field is outstanding,” said the recently named Big Ten Coach of the Year. “The NIT field is filled with rich tradition basketball schools, like Florida, Kentucky, Notre Dame and Kansas State. There are a lot of good teams and programs. It should be one heck of tournament.”

George Mason lost by 21 points to Virginia Commonwealth in the championship game of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament last week. Three of George Mason’s 10 losses this season came by a combined total of just 13 points, but those losses also came against Hampton, Liberty and Dayton.

The Patriots also lost conference games to VCU, Old Dominion, Northeastern, Delaware and James Madison, and suffered a 13-point nonconference loss at Creighton. George Mason and Penn State have common opponents in Towson, William & Mary and Mount St. Mary’s.

The Nittany Lions defeated William & Mary by 14 and Towson by 24 and MSM by six. The Patriots defeated Towson – and former Bishop O’Reilly standout Tim Crossin – three times, including an eight-point win in the CAA tournament semifinals. Mason also defeated William & Mary by 14 points and MSM by 12.

The Patriots play with a three-guard offense and have balanced scoring attack led by guards Cam Long (11.6 ppg) and John Vaughn (10.9), as well as forward Darryl Monroe (10.6).

“They have three fifth-year guys,” said DeChellis, referring to Vaughn, Monroe and guard Dre Smith. “It’s an older group. They’ve been around and they have postseason experience. They’ll be hungry.”

Battle and teammate Jamelle Cornley admitted to not knowing much about this year’s George Mason team, although Cornley does remember the Patriots’ amazing run to the Final Four in 2006.

“It was a magical season for them,” said the senior co-captain. “But now, they’re in the NIT with us. I’m sure they’ll want to make a run in another tournament. It’s up to us to stop that from happening.”

Cornley, the emotional leader of the Lions, expects his team to play with a chip on its shoulder. Not only is Penn State upset about not being selected to play in the NCAA tournament, the Lions are downright peeved about not receiving one of the four No. 1 seeds in the NIT.

“I felt that we were one of two teams that could have been in the (NCAA) tournament. Not getting a No. 1 seed (in the NIT) surprised me a lot,” said Cornley. “If we can’t play with a chip on our shoulder after not making the tournament and not getting a No. 1 seed, I don’t know what motivation we need.”

Up next

NIT

First Round

George Mason at Penn State

8 p.m. today

Bryce Jordan Center in State College

TV: ESPNU