# 2008–09 Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team

The 2008–09 Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team represented Pennsylvania State University and completed the season by winning the 2009 National Invitation Tournament over the Baylor Bears at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Head Coach, Ed DeChellis, coached his sixth season with the team. The team played its home games in University Park, Pennsylvania at the Bryce Jordan Center, which has a capacity of 15,261, for the twelfth consecutive season. The season marked the team's sixteenth consecutive season as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

## Current coaching staff

| Position | Name | Year | Alma mater |
| Head coach | Ed DeChellis | 2003 | Penn State (1982) |
| Assistant coach | Kurt Kanaskie | 2003 | La Salle (1980) |
| Assistant coach | Lewis Preston | 2008 | VMI (1993) |
| Assistant coach | Dan Earl | 2005 | Penn State (1997) |
| Director of basketball operations | Jon Perry | 2004 | ETSU (2002) |

## Roster

| Name | # | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Home Town |
| Chris Babb | 10 | Guard | 6–5 | 210 | Freshman | Arlington, TX |
| Talor Battle | 12 | Guard | 5–11 | 165 | Sophomore | Albany, NY |
| Jeff Brooks | 25 | Forward | 6–8 | 200 | Sophomore | Louisville, KY |
| Jamelle Cornley | 2 | Forward | 6–5 | 240 | Senior | Columbus, OH |
| Adam Highberger | 14 | Guard | 6–2 | 170 | Sophomore | Blairsville, PA |
| David Jackson | 15 | Forward | 6–6 | 205 | Sophomore | Farrell, PA |
| Andrew Jones III | 22 | Forward | 6–9 | 245 | Sophomore | Philadelphia |
| Steve Kirkpatrick | 41 | Forward | 6–5 | 225 | Sophomore | Carlisle, PA |
| Will Leiner | 13 | Guard | 6–1 | 170 | Senior | Coplay, PA |
| Danny Morrissey | 33 | Guard | 6–3 | 190 | Senior | Cleveland, OH |
| Billy Oliver | 42 | Forward | 6–8 | 205 | Freshman | Chatham, NJ |
| Andrew Ott | 54 | Forward | 6–10 | 235 | Sophomore | Abington, PA |
| Stanley Pringle | 11 | Guard | 6–1 | 180 | Senior | Virginia Beach, VA |
| Joonas Suotamo | 21 | Forward | 6–10 | 230 | Senior | Espoo, Finland |
| Cammeron Woodyard | 24 | Guard | 6–5 | 205 | Freshman | Westminster, MD |

## Schedule and Results
### Preseason

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Aug 30* 12:00 p.m., no | vs. Waterloo | W 83–52 | 1–0 | Sheridan College Athletic Centre - Davis Campus Brampton, ON |
| Aug 30* 7:00 p.m., no | at Sheridan | W 83–65 | 2–0 | Sheridan College Athletic Centre - Davis Campus Brampton, ON |
| Aug 31* 7:00 p.m., no | at Ryerson | W 102–68 | 3–0 | Kerr Hall Gymnasium Toronto, ON |
| Sep 1* 12:00 p.m., no | at York | W 83–45 | 4–0 | Tait McKenzie Centre Toronto, ON |
| Nov 9* 2:00 p.m., no | Bloomsburg | W 77–51 | 5–0 | Bryce Jordan Center University Park, PA |
| *Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. |||||

### Regular Season and Postseason

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Nov 14* 6:30 p.m., BTN | William & Mary | W 65–51 | 1–0 | Bryce Jordan Center (8,026) University Park, PA |
| Nov 17* 7:00 p.m., BTN | NJIT Philly Hoop Group Classic | W 74–47 | 2–0 | Bryce Jordan Center (5,293) University Park, PA |
| Nov 20* 7:00 p.m., BTN.com | Hartford Philly Hoop Group Classic | W 89–64 | 3–0 | Bryce Jordan Center (5,142) University Park, PA |
| Nov 23* 2:00 p.m., BTN | New Hampshire | W 70–50 | 4–0 | Bryce Jordan Center (4,546) University Park, PA |
| Nov 25* 7:30 p.m., CN8 | vs. Penn | W 85–73 | 5–0 | Palestra (4,581) Philadelphia, PA |
| Nov 28* 6:30 p.m., CN8 | vs. Rhode Island Philly Hoop Group Classic semifinal | L 72–77 | 5–1 | Palestra (5,000) Philadelphia, PA |
| Nov 29* 6:30 p.m., CN8 | vs. Towson Philly Hoop Group Classic consolation game | W 78–54 | 6–1 | Palestra (4,195) Philadelphia, PA |
| Dec 3* 7:30 p.m., ESPN2 | at Georgia Tech ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 85–83 | 7–1 | Alexander Memorial Coliseum (7,900) Atlanta, GA |
| Dec 6* 6:00 p.m., BTN | Temple | L 59–65 | 7–2 | Bryce Jordan Center (9,833) University Park, PA |
| Dec 10* 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | Army | W 60–45 | 8–2 | Bryce Jordan Center (5,720) University Park, PA |
| Dec 13* 4:00 p.m., BTN.com | Mount St. Mary's | W 61–56 | 9–2 | Bryce Jordan Center (4,676) University Park, PA |
| Dec 21* 4:00 p.m., ESPNU | Lafayette | W 83–55 | 10–2 | Bryce Jordan Center (4,462) University Park, PA |
| Dec 23* 7:00 p.m., BTN.com | Sacred Heart | W 73–65 | 11–2 | Bryce Jordan Center (4,407) University Park, PA |
| Dec 31 12:00 p.m., ESPN2 | Northwestern | W 61–57 | 12–2 (1–0) | Bryce Jordan Center (5,525) University Park, PA |
| Jan 3 2:00 p.m., BTN | at Wisconsin | L 61–65 | 12–3 (1–1) | Kohl Center (17,230) Madison, WI |
| Jan 6 9:00 p.m., BTN | No. 14 Purdue | W 67–64 | 13–3 (2–1) | Bryce Jordan Center (4,404) University Park, PA |
| Jan 11 3:30 p.m., BTN | at No. 22 Minnesota | L 59–79 | 13–4 (2–2) | Williams Arena (13,757) Minneapolis, MN |
| Jan 14 6:30 p.m., BTN | No. 10 Michigan State | L 73–78 | 13–5 (2–3) | Bryce Jordan Center (10,270) University Park, PA |
| Jan 17 6:00 p.m., BTN | at Indiana | W 65–55 | 14–5 (3–3) | Assembly Hall (15,626) Bloomington, IN |
| Jan 20 9:00 p.m., BTN | Michigan | W 73–58 | 15–5 (4–3) | Bryce Jordan Center (8,730) University Park, PA |
| Jan 24 6:00 p.m., BTN | Iowa | W 63–59 | 16–5 (5–3) | Bryce Jordan Center (12,210) University Park, PA |
| Feb 1 12:00 p.m., BTN | at No. 9 Michigan State | W 72–68 | 17–5 (6–3) | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 5 7:00 p.m., BTN | at Michigan | L 51–71 | 17–6 (6–4) | Crisler Arena (10,134) Ann Arbor, MI |
| Feb 8 3:00 p.m., BTN | Wisconsin | L 44–54 | 17–7 (6–5) | Bryce Jordan Center (14,686) University Park, PA |
| Feb 11 6:30 p.m., BTN | at No. 23 Purdue | L 47–61 | 17–8 (6–6) | Mackey Arena (14,013) West Lafayette, IN |
| Feb 14 1:30 p.m., BTN | Minnesota | W 68–63 | 18–8 (7–6) | Bryce Jordan Center (12,148) University Park, PA |
| Feb 18 7:00 p.m., BTN | at No. 16 Illinois | W 38–33 | 19–8 (8–6) | Assembly Hall (16,200) Champaign, IL |
| Feb 24 7:00 p.m., ESPN | at Ohio State | L 59–73 | 19–9 (8–7) | Value City Arena (18,170) Columbus, OH |
| Feb 28 6:00 p.m., BTN | Indiana | W 61–58 | 20–9 (9–7) | Bryce Jordan Center (15,035) University Park, PA |
| Mar 5 9:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 23 Illinois | W 64–63 | 21–9 (10–7) | Bryce Jordan Center (13,091) University Park, PA |
| Mar 7 2:00 p.m., BTN | at Iowa | L 69–75 $^{2OT}$ | 21–10 (10–8) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (14,094) Iowa City, IA |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| Mar 12 5:00 p.m., ESPN2 | vs. Indiana First round | W 66–51 | 22–10 | Conseco Fieldhouse (12,174) Indianapolis, IN |
| Mar 13 9:00 p.m., BTN | vs. No. 24 Purdue Quarterfinal | L 65–79 | 22–11 | Conseco Fieldhouse (14,647) Indianapolis, IN |
| National Invitation Tournament ||||||
| Mar 17* 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | George Mason First round | W 77–73 $^{OT}$ | 23–11 | Bryce Jordan Center (5,549) University Park, PA |
| Mar 19* 7:00 p.m., CN8 | Rhode Island Second round | W 83–72 | 24–11 | Bryce Jordan Center (6,646) University Park, PA |
| Mar 24* 9:00 p.m., ESPN | at Florida Quarterfinal | W 71–62 | 25–11 | O'Connell Center (6,525) Gainesville, FL |
| Mar 31* 9:00 p.m., ESPN2 | vs. Notre Dame Semifinal | W 67–59 | 26–11 | Madison Square Garden (11,352) New York, NY |
| Apr 2* 7:00 p.m., ESPN | vs. Baylor Championship game | W 69–63 | 27–11 | Madison Square Garden (10,254) New York, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Awards
### Players

* Talor Battle
** Big Ten Player of the Week (Nov. 23)
** All Big Ten first team point guard
* Jamelle Cornley
** Big Ten Player of the Week (Jan. 26)
** All Big Ten second team forward
** 2009 NIT MVP

### Coaches

* Ed DeChellis
** Big Ten Coach of the Year