Dec. 15, 2014
By Matt Allibone, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - It only took 24 seconds for Brandon Taylor to make his presence felt on Sunday afternoon.
Against George Washington, the Penn State forward wasted no time establishing himself on offense, hitting a jumper to give the Nittany Lions an early 2-0 lead. It was a sign of things to come for the junior.
In a game that Penn State dominated in multiple facets, Taylor played perhaps his best all-around game of the year, finishing with 17 points, eight rebounds and two steals as the Lions beat the Colonials 64-51.
"BT made some great shots and made some great passes that put [George Washington] on their heals a little bit," Chambers said. "We did some good things and got the ball to the middle of the floor."
One of Penn State's best 3-point shooters, Taylor had an efficient day from behind the arc, going 3-for-6 from long distance. While it was his fourth game of the season hitting at least three 3-pointers, it was the first time he did it while also shooting 50 percent on those shots.
The only game this season in which the 6-foot-6, 235 pound forward finished with more points was Nov. 20 against Charlotte, when he finished with 19 in a double overtime contest. The eight boards also tied his second highest rebound total of the season.
After struggling with foul trouble and going 0-for-5 from the field during Penn State's 64-62 win over Duquesne on Wednesday, it was certainly a welcome performance for a player considered one of the Nittany Lions most important offensive weapons.
"It was definitely a good feeling to see some of my shots fall in," Taylor said. "As of late I haven't been shooting the ball as well as I'd like so it's definitely good to see the ball go through the hoop."
Much of Taylor's production came in the second half, when the Lions outscored the Colonials 30-23. After halftime, the Tabernacle, New Jersey, native had 12 points and seven rebounds while going 2-of-4 from three.
Still, Taylor really hit his stride at the second half's 13:15 mark, with the Lions holding on to a 42-39 lead following four consecutive George Washington points. The junior captain drilled two straight threes and scored 10 points during a 13-4 Penn State run that lasted just over six minutes.
While it was his sixth double-digit scoring effort of the season and his fourth game totaling at least eight rebounds, Taylor did more than just rack up stats.
Not only did his passing play a big part of Penn State's ball movement, he also opened up the floor for his teammates to score. The Lions starting guard tandem of D.J. Newbill and Shep Garner combined for 30 points and clearly benefitted from the extra attention that they Colonials were forced to pay to Taylor.
"[Taylor's shooting] helps a lot," Newbill said. "Once BT gets going from the outside, they gotta respect him. We stretch their defense out so we get driving lanes. So even when he doesn't have the ball it creates so much tension. I can remember one time after he hit a three, I drove, and they stayed with him and Shep got a wide open three so that helps us out a lot on offense."
After averaging 9.2 points and 4.9 rebounds as a sophomore, Taylor is now up to 10.4 points and 6.1 rebounds after 11 games this season. More importantly though, the Nittany Lions have already won 10 games after it took them until Jan. 23 to reach double-digit victories last season.
Sunday's win was a perfect example of how good Penn State can be when each player fulfills his intended role. Along with Taylor's strong performance, the Lions got 20 points from their leading scorer in Newbill, 10 boards from top rebounder Ross Travis and six blocks from 7-foot-1 center Jordan Dickerson as they took down a George Washington squad coming off three consecutive wins.
"You know I think everybody of the team does understand their role," Taylor says. "I think that really helps us. Geno [Thorpe] knows that if he gets in the game to play defense. Payton [Banks] knows to get in and do the little things. I think everybody on the team is understanding of where they should be and what they should do on this team."
At 10-1, Penn State is off to its best start since the 1995-'96 season. Still, Chambers knows his team has plenty of things to work on with the start on Big Ten play less than a month away.
Chambers' goal for his team all season has been to see them play a complete 40-minute game. By holding the Colonials to 23 points and a 29 percent shooting performance in the second half, the fourth-year coach feels his team is almost there.
"We're getting there, we're definitely getting there," Chambers said. "I don't think we started the game off real well. GW brought the best out of us and once the game got level I really like what our team did."