#Penn State V. #Michigan State- #Battle, Frazier find stroke

Penn State's big man in the middle Jeff Brooks (25) defends the Spartan's Derrick Nix. Brooks gave the Spartan's fits on the boards and in the paint all game.

                        It been a while, a long while, but, the Penn State faithful finally have a basketball team to put their arms around. Underdog Penn State (19-13, 9-9) pulled off another upset with a 61-48 win over Michigan State (19-14, 9-9) to advance to the Big 10 Conference championship game tomorrow angainst No. 1 seeded Ohio State. The win over Michigan State almost assures the Nittany Lions a spot in the NCAA tournament.

                       Led by two sharp shooting guards, Taylor Battle (25 points) and Tim Frazier (22) put their previous night's shooting woes behind them and were the catalysts in leading the  Nittany Lions to their first ever Big 10 championship game appearance. The Nittany Lions started the game sluggish having some scratching their heads and wondering if all in attendance were in for another "offensive" show Penn State and Wisconsin put on the night before. At one point Penn State was down 11-2 after the game's first five minutes.

                      But these Nittany Lions have been slow starters for most of the season. A Jeff Brooks steal snapped Penn State out of it's slump. The Nittany Lions' patience, solid defense and timely scoring brought them back to tie the game at 26 going into the half. 

                      The second half belonged to Battle and Frazier. Battle, who played all 40 minutes,  found his stroke from behind the arc going 6 for 11, while Frazier went 9 for 13, pulling in eight rebounds to go with his six assists. Sophomore Jeff Brooks was the unheralded star of the game. Brooks', 3 steals, 2 blocks and  6 rebounds, physicality under the basket was something Michigan State had no answer for. 
NEXT: OHIO STATE 3:30 p.m. est., CBS

RANDOM THOUGHTS

1. What's the deal with Roger Goodell's  $1 salary now that the lockout's official. What a guy! The man makes $10 million a year. I'm sure he's not going to be a regular at the New York City soup kitchens anytime soon. Hey Roger, give the players your $10 million and we'll call it a deal. And for that, we thank you!

2. San Diego State beat BYU to win the Mountain West Conference. This time, the third time is definitely a charm for the Aztecs. Is everybody on board in saying that BYU is NOT a No.1 seed. If one player (Jimmer Freddettte) has an average shooting night this team becomes very average

3. Word is Chris Collinsworth had a rough time at dinner the other night. He was eating at a floating restaurant on the Ohio River when it broke away and started floating down river due to high waters.  Does anyone really care? Too bad there were other people there, otherwise, the rescuers would have been wise to watch and see what would happened.   Wait, doesn't he look a little, no a lot, like a bird? He could have just flown to safety. 

4. This I found very intriguing when I heard it  a couple weeks ago. New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Peyton moved his family to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Well, the Cowboys just signed a new head coach so that's out of the question. Wait, won't he miss his wife and kids. Is he going to commute? By plane? Ford fusion? Recently, the word is he's having an affair with New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson's daughter, Rita Benson. Ahhh now it all starts to make sense. A good friend once told me not to S**t where you eat. Evidently Sean Peyton doesn't have any good friends.   

5. It's nice to see the squeaky clean image of Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel's take a hit. I mean come on, he had to be doing something wrong and I'm sure there are more things that we don't know about. One has to question his credibility. While coaching at Youngstown State, Tressel recruited a local standout running back and said that if he took the OSU job that he would take him with him. That running back-Maurice Clarett. Probably the most troublesome player at the university in the past 20-30 years. He knew who he was, how he was and the baggage he brought. Too bad Clarett has no credibilty left because he could probably give us all good insight into coach Tressel.  

6. And the hits keep coming for Sparty. It still seems as though Michigan State is still recruiting mediocre talent these days. Two MSU football players failed to escape from Aspen police. Seems as though Max Bullough and Brian Linthicum mixed it up with a couple of bar partons before fleeing and being caught. Aren't they one year removed from having half the team suspended or dismissed.  Kids these days.