When talking Penn State athletics, the first topic to be discussed is football. But as of lately, the basketball team has been making some headlines of their own after falling just short of a Big Ten title following their loss to No.1 Ohio State.
The Nittany Lions have a few solid players, but none are more important than the 6’0″ senior guard out of Albany, New York — Talor Battle.
Despite playing for a Penn State team that historically has not been a contender among the national spotlight, Battle has found a way to make himself into a star in Happy Valley.
The two-time Big Ten First-Team selection is averaging 20.1 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game.
Those numbers are outstanding, but when it comes to playing in a tournament-type atmosphere, Battle takes his game to a whole other level.
Against Michigan State in the semi-finals of the Big Ten tournament, Battle accounted for 25 points, seven rebounds and three assists. In Penn State’s loss to Ohio State, Battle continued his level of play, dropping 24 points along with five rebounds and two assists.
Although he has been one of the best players in the Big Ten during his time at Penn State, Battle has never received the chance to perform under the spotlight of the national tournament and the pressure that comes with playing in March Madness. 
Until now.
With No. 10 Penn State set to take on inner-state rival, No. 7 Temple, in the first round, Battle will finally get to play in the national spotlight.
And unfortunately for Temple, that means they will most likely be up against a fired up, highly motivated player in Battle.
That combination could (most likely will) spell doom for the Owls.
However, in the past, Battle has shown inconsistency against the Cherry & White.
In his sophomore year, Battle finished with 19 points against the Owls; in his junior year, Battle struggled from the field, going 3-15 with just 8 points.
Predicting anything in college basketball is nearly impossible, but what I do expect is that Battle will not let this game be his first and last game in the national spotlight.
Temple has some quality players in Lavoy Allen and Juan Fernandez, but none are on the level of Battle, and not one of them have faced the competition that Battle has been up against since 2007.
In one of the toughest conferences in basketball, one that has some of the best players in the nation (Jared Sullinger, E’Twaun Moore, Kalin Lucas), Battle has continued to put up numbers.
The nation has been exposed to the likes of Jimmer Fredette, Kemba Walker and Harrison Barnes, but with the start of March Madness always comes the emergence of new faces, such as Stephan Curry back in 2008 and Gordon Hayward in 2010, which leaves the door open for new faces to surface in 2011…enter Talor Battle.
HAHAHAHAHHAH
I’m guessing you go to Penn State? Biased much? Temple’s biggest strength is their guard play. To say Taylor Battle is too much for them is an absolute joke. I would not say Temple is a lock to win the game by any stretch, but to fail to mention that Temple’s biggest strengths is at guard and containing the opposing teams guards shows your complete ignorance and biased in this article.
Nice try though lol
Battle is a very underrated player who is tough, a leader and not afraid to take the big shots.. I think the key to this game for Temple to win though is to contain PF Jeff Brooks and keep Brooks off the boards and from getting into a rhythm of getting those open looks 8-12 Ft out for he will hit them all game long.. If Brooks gets easy looks and touches early, then Battle is able to have more room to work on the outside and break his defender down ad go to the rim or have more space to shoot the 3 . When both Battle and Brroks are playing well, Penn State becomes a Dangerous team
Juan Fernadez and Moore both matching Battle with 23 points.
As I said, you forgot to mention Temple’s guard play lol
skulman, are you really in here bragging about that win? EITHER team could have won that game.
@birdo
No I am not bragging about the win (well I guess a little bit). If you look at my first post I said that Temple is by no means a lock to win this game.
My point was this article was saying how Battle was too much for Temple and the writer credited all of PSU’s strength’s. Yet he neglected to mention that Temple’s strongest asset is their guard play. He only reported one side of the story, and the article was incredibly bias towards penn state. My first post was prior to the game and my second was after. My only point was he knew PSU basketball, but didnt seem to know anything about Temple basketball.
PSU played great, either team could’ve won, but I was just making the point (and point made) that Temple’s guards are nothing to look over. And when I come to a predominantly Eagles site and read that one guard is too much for Temple, it is an absolute joke.