Tribune Wire Services
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Talor Battle arrived at Virginia's John Paul Jones Arena struggling to find his shot and reluctant to try and force things for Penn State. He's not looking any more.
Battle scored 28 of his 32 points in the second half and had four assists, leading the Nittany Lions to a 69-66 victory against the Cavaliers in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.
Penn State became the first Big Ten team to win three straight in the annual matchup of conferences. The Nittany Lions beat Virginia Tech in 2007 and won at Georgia Tech last year.
Northwestern will play at North Carolina State on Tuesday (6 p.m., ESPNU), while Illinois will play at Clemson on Wednesday (6:15 p.m. ESPNU).
Penn State (5-2) seemed to be in control, leading 55-43 with 3:46 left, but had to withstand a furious rally to hang on. Sylven Landesberg started the run with a banked-in 3-pointer and Sammy Zeglinski hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the final 1:17.
"Coming into this game, I was struggling from the 3," Battle said after making 5 of 9 from long range. "I needed a couple of easy baskets, and I got that at the start of the second half, and then I hit a 3, and once I hit that one, I started feeling good.
"I got a smile on my face and I really had fun in there."
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