Ryan Cline has been the scourge of Penn State
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At Big Ten media day in Chicago back in the fall, Pat Chambers was discussing Purdue, and some of the wild games his Penn State program has engaged in against the Boilermakers in recent years.
Ryan Cline's name came up.
"Ryan Cline," Chambers said, "is a Penn State Nittany Lion killer."
Barring a Big Ten Tournament pairing between the two teams, Saturday afternoon is Cline's last chance to torment Chambers' team.
And plenty of that he's done the past three-and-a-half seasons or so.
When Purdue beat Penn State in overtime a few weeks ago in State College, Cline scored 20, one off his career high. He attempted seven three-pointers and made all but one.
This was Penn State's first meeting with Purdue since Cline moved into the sort of big-minutes, big-responsibility role he's playing for the Boilermakers this season.
But even before, less was more for Cline against the Lions.
Two seasons ago, Cline made a pair of three-pointers in overtime in another harrowing Boilermaker escape from the Bryce Jordan Center. Last year in Mackey Arena, Vincent Edwards-less Purdue won a close game against Penn State, thanks in part to a few key shots from Cline in the second half.
In six games against Penn State prior to this one, Cline is now 15-of-27 from three-point range, 13-of-20 in the past four.
"It's total coincidence," Cline said. "It's nothing about (Penn State)."
And so, as Cline says, there's nothing really more about Saturday's game than Penn State just being another opponent. He said the Nittany Lions do defend differently than a lot of other Big Ten teams, switching away from the ball more, but he didn't seem to think that's mattered much to his outsized productivity against them.
Still, Cline's history against Penn State is something.
"But It's not like I'm going to go out there and think, 'I've played pretty well against these guys,' and just go jack a bunch of shots."
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