CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Talor Battle scored 28 of his 32 points in the second half and Penn State withstood a furious rally by Virginia in the final minute to beat the Cavaliers 69-66 Monday night in the opener of the Big Ten-ACC challenge.
The Nittany Lions (5-2) led 55-43 with about four minutes left, but a banked-in 3-pointer by Sylven Landesberg and three by Sammy Zeglinski in the final 1:31 got the Cavaliers to within 67-66 with 5.7 seconds left before Battle's two free throws produced the final score.
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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.
Landesberg led Virginia (4-3) with 18 points, Mike Scott had 17 and Zeglinski 16, including 11 in the final 1:17. He missed a leaning 3-pointer for the tie at the buzzer.
