MICH-AGAIN

Jamelle Cornley couldn't do anything but sit and watch (and listen) as his team was serenaded by the Michigan student section with chants of "We Own Penn State," as the final seconds bled away in a 71-51 loss to the Wolverines on Thursday night. It was the team's first lost in five games, but fifteenth loss in sixteen trips to Ann Arbor.

There's only so many ways to score points in a basketball game and Penn State's options began and ended with Cornley on Thursday. The senior accounted for nearly half of his team's offense, pouring in 25 points, including an uncharacteristic 3-of-4 night from behind the three-point arc. The Nittany Lions shot just 32% from the floor as a team and missed 17 of 25 three-point attempts, while Michigan connected on a 47% clip and enjoyed a 31-9 advantage in bench production.

It was a night to forget for guards Talor Battle and Stanley Pringle who shot a combined 6-29 (20%) and had six of the team's 13 turnovers. Jeff Brooks and David Jackson continued their season-long "deer in a headlight" impersonation combining for zero points, three turnovers and five fouls in 32 minutes.

Penn State's last lead of the game was a two-point cushion with 15 minutes left in the game, but the Lions were outscored 17-3 over the next seven minutes as Michigan blew the game open.

The loss was especially frustrating since the Wolverines had no answer for Cornley inside, yet the Lions' offensive attack regressed into a series of one-on-one battles ending with contested jumpers instead of running the offense through Cornley and allowing him to control the paint and the pace of the game. Ed DeChellis even mentioned that same point on his way to the locker room at halftime, yet no adjustment was made in the second half.

This game is not a deal-breaker, Crisler Arena proved a tough place for Duke to play earlier this year as well, but Penn State better get this loss behind them quickly with the Wisconsin Badgers coming to town on Sunday and the Lions getting ready to face ranked teams in three of its next five games.

Anytime you score 50 points in a game and one player has half of them, you're not going to have a good chance of winning. It just really sucks that this loss had to come with former coach Jerry Dunn on the other bench and those fishstick-breathed Michigan students mocking our team until the final buzzer.