Duel of the Titans
December 29, 2009

The University of Minnesota men’s basketball program got off the Big 10 season on the right foot with a 75-70 victory over Penn State at Williams Arena Tuesday night.

The game pitted a pair of evenly-matched teams and featured Penn State’s Talor Battle and Minnesota’s Lawrence Westbrook reenacting the Duel of the Titans, each energizing his team when the occasion called for it.

“It [Westbrook vs. Battle] was fun to watch those two go at it,” Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said after the game. “In the end it was the turnovers that killed us.” The Nittany Lions had 16 turnovers, while the Gophers turned the ball over eight times.

The game was tied eight times, and the lead changed hands four times. With less than five minutes remaining, Westbrook scored consecutive three-point baskets to give the Gophers a 66-61 lead. Earlier, Battle sunk a three-pointer from far beyond NBA range to give the Nittany Lions a 53-50 advantage.

Westbrook finished the game with 29 points while Battle scored 23. The 29 points tied Westbrook’s career high.

A sellout crowd of 14,625 witnessed the Gophers shoot 49 percent from the field, a total nearly matched by the Lions. Minnesota, however, scored 23 points off fast breaks while Penn State had only nine by that route.

The Gophers received a strong scoring effort from the team’s starting lineup. All but 20 of Minnesota’s total came from the starting five. In addition to Westbrook’s 29, Blake Hoffarber had 11 points, Damian Johnson seven, and Al Nolen six. Starting center Ralph Sampson, however, did his best impression of the Invisible Man by scoring only two points and pulling down a pair of rebounds in 29 minutes of action.

The event was marred by the appearance of former Minnesota head basketball coach Clem Haskins, invited back as part of a ceremony honoring members of the 1989-1990 Gopher NCAA tournament team. Haskins left the university in disgrace following evidence of academic fraud that resulted in the erasure of the team’s victories from the Autumn of 1993 to the Spring of 1999. Haskins was guilty of bringing shame and dishonor to a once proud athletic program. Unfortunately, the majority of those in the crowd responded to his presence with cheers and applause. Haskins and his wife Yevette occupied the season ticket seats of athletic director Joel Maturi, who was in Tempe, Ariz., for the football team’s Insight Bowl appearance.

The Haskins halftime celebration was perhaps accentuated by Minnesota dominating the first half against Penn State. The Gophers entered the locker room with a 34-27 lead. That advantage, however, was erased by the Lions who went on a 17-5 scoring binge to take a 44-39 lead with a little under 14 minutes left in the game. A Hoffarber three-point basket cut the Penn State lead to 44-42, but a layup by the Lions’ Bill Edwards made it 46-42. A Westbrook three-pointer got the Gophers within one point, but a field goal by Bill Edwards put Penn State up by three. Another three-point basket by Hoffarber tied the score. The teams traded baskets and were tied at 50, setting up Battle’s heroics.

Minnesota led by 60-58 when Westbrook hit the first of his clutch three-pointers. Battle answered with another three-point basket, but Westbrook responded with a three of his own for the 66-61 lead, one that was never relinquished.

In addition to Battle’s 23 points, Penn State’s Andrew Jones had 12 and David Jackson 11.

“We have only a few starters left from last year’s team,” DeChellis commented. (Penn State won the 2009 National Invitational Tournament.) “For some of our players, this was their first big-time game before a big crowd. You could see that they were shaky at the start.”