Providence Providence/Penn State Penn State Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

The Crispins, Joe and Jon, came through in the second half. Remember, Penn State beat two No. 1 seeds (Michigan St. and Illinois) and a No. 2 seed (Kentucky). When this team is on, it can be very dangerous.

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Joe Crispin scored 13 points and brother Jon Crispin added 11 to lead seventh-seeded Penn State to a 69-59 victory over Providence on Friday night in the NCAA South Regional.

Penn State's first tournament victory since 1991 gave the Nittany Lions their first 20-victory season since 1996.

"Twenty wins and its the first time since I've been head coach that we've advanced past the first round in the tournament," coach Jerry Dunn said. "Those are both big marks for us."

The Crispin brothers also had nine rebounds and five assists and were 6-for-7 from the free-throw line to help the Nittany Lions advance to a second-round game with second-seeded North Carolina. The Tar Heels beat Princeton 70-48.

Gyasi Cline-Heard had 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Titus Ivory added 13 points.

The Nittany Lions were 8-of-19 from 3-point range against Providence, which had held teams to 29 percent this season. Joe Crispin and Ivory each made three 3-pointers.

"I thought we were going to have to screen them to negate their speed and quickness," Dunn said. "I thought our perimeter players did a good job of screening for each other."

Erron Maxey led Providence with 16 points, and Karim Shabazz had 13 points and nine rebounds.


	Gyasi Cline-Heard flushes two of his team-high 16 points for the Nittany Lions.

"We just weren't in the flow," Providence guard John Linehan said. "We moved the ball around pretty good at times, but we didn't make our shots."

Penn State (20-11) finished the regular season with a 1.9- point scoring margin, while 10th-seeded Providence (21-10) beat teams by an average of 11 points.

Penn State shot 44 percent, the Friars 36 percent overall, 31 percent in the first half.

"It's very difficult to win a game when you shoot 31 percent in a half," Providence coach Tim Welsh said. "They were very pesky with their defense and we did not adjust as well as I would've hoped."

After a streaky first half, Penn State settled down to business. The Nittany Lions took a 34-32 lead on a jumper by Ivory 1:46 into the second half and never trailed again.

Penn State used a 9-2 run, fueled by seven points from Jon Crispin, to go up 46-37 with 11:52 left. Joe – the Big Ten scoring leader – was on the bench cheering his younger brother on.

"That gave us a lot of energy at the time for the guys on the floor and the guys on the bench," Dunn said. "Jon has been up and down this year, so his teammates were very pleased for him."

After dropping behind 7-2 in the opening minutes, Penn State went on a 15-2 run, fueled by three 3-point baskets to take a 17-9 lead at the 12:50 mark. Penn State led by 10 points – 23-13 on Titus Ivory's 3-pointer with 9:41 remaining in the half.

The Friars answered with a 17-2 run to go up 30-27 with 3:23 left. A pair of free throws by Gyasi Cline-Heard and a 3-pointer by Joe Crispin – the sixth of the first half for Providence – made it 30-30 at the break.

"Basketball is a game of spurts," Maxey said. "We got a little spurt going; unfortunately, we weren't able to sustain it."

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Men's College Basketball Scoreboard

Providence Clubhouse

Penn State Clubhouse

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Gyasi Cline-Heard hopes Penn State will start to get the respect they deserve. (courtesy NCAA)
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Penn State coach Jerry Dunn knows good decision-making wins games at this time of the year. (courtesy NCAA)
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