Dec 22, 2014 4 min read

STATE COLLEGE – Patrick Chambers’ squad is 12-1 and yet the coach believes the Nittany Lions’ record is 0-0.

Penn State has 10 straight wins and its 69-49 victory over Dartmouth on Monday set a school record for most nonconference victories.

Come New Year’s Eve, Penn State opens its Big Ten schedule at No. 6 Wisconsin and that, Chambers said, is the team’s focus going forward.

D.J. Newbill scored 17 points, Geno Thorpe added 12 and John Johnson and Brandon Taylor each scored 10 against the Big Green.

The Nittany Lions held Dartmouth to 19 of 54 shooting from the field and 2 of 20 from 3-point range.

Penn State shot 47 percent overall and was 7 of 19 from long range. The Lions also owned a 38-30 edge in rebounding.

But it’s conference time, and Chambers’ four previous Big Ten teams won 12 of 54 Big Ten games. Penn State since its 1993 debut in the Big Ten is 125-276 in 22 seasons.

Chambers believes things are only looking up.

“Last year we started out poorly and then we went 6-6,” he said. “We need a better start.

“It’s nice to be 12-1. But we’re 0-0 and focused on Wisconsin.”

Alex Mitola had 13 points and Gabas Maldunas had nine to lead Dartmouth (5-6).

The Big Green hung around early but shooting woes and Penn State’s effort on the boards led to a deficit of 25 points with 10:30 to play.

Maldunas was good on four free throws and Malik Gill lobbed a pass over the basket that Wesley Dickinson slammed through to close Dartmouth to 60-42.

But Newbill followed with a driving layup, got the ball from Ross Travis on a steal and fed Travis for an easy slam and a 64-42 advantage.

Dartmouth coach Paul Cormier did not call a timeout the entire game.

Chambers gave Dartmouth credit for playing hard, and he was pleased with Penn State’s overall non-conference schedule.

“I thought it was a great nonconference,” Chambers said. “It gave us a variety of styles of play that are going to prepare us for the Big Ten.

“We can still get a lot better which is really scary to me on how good we can be. Everybody knows we had a very good non-con.

“We look forward to the challenge.”

Newbill, whose 17 was nearly five points below his average, was also looking toward conference play.

“For the most part we did a good job in nonconference,” he said. “I think this team really grew. We corrected some flaws and some things we weren’t good at game by game, but you can’t really know where you’re really at until you get in the Big Ten Conference.

West Virginia 77, Wofford 44: Juwan Staten had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 18 West Virginia to a 77-44 win over Wofford on Monday night.

West Virginia (11-1) is off to its best start since opening 11-0 during the 2009-10 season, when it reached the Final Four.

Elijah Macon and Jonathan Holton each added 11 points and Jevon Carter scored 10 for the Mountaineers.

Spencer Collins scored 12 points and Karl Cochran had 10 for Wofford (9-3), which had won four in a row.

Wofford wilted under West Virginia’s full-court press, committed a season-high 21 turnovers and was held to its lowest scoring output this season.

Robert Morris 84, Delaware 81: Marcquise Reed and Rodney Pryor combined to score 39 points as Robert Morris held off winless Delaware for an 84-81 win Monday night.

Reed drilled a 3-pointer midway through the second half to give Robert Morris (4-7) a 14-point lead, 63-49, and Pryor added two free throws to make it 65-49 with seven minutes left.

The Blue Hens (0-10) scratched their way back, cutting the lead to five on Chivarsky Corbett’s 3-pointer with just under a minute to play, but got no closer.

Reed was 5 of 10 from the field, 2 of 5 from distance, and 8 of 13 from the line to finish with 20 points. Pryor was 7 of 8 from the field, 2 of 2 from long range and 3 of 4 from the line for 19.

Corbett finished with 21 points to lead the Blue Hens, with Mauriice Jeffers and Kyle Anderson both adding 16.