Penn State rally runs out of steam in loss to Michigan

Penn State basketball rally runs out of steam in loss at Michigan

Penn State dug a hole it couldn’t quite climb out of on Wednesday night in a Big Ten contest at Michigan. The Nittany Lions ran out of steam as key shots just would not land after cutting a 14-point deficit down to as little as two points in the final minutes of the Big Ten matchup in Ann Arbor. Penn State’s 79-69 loss drops Penn State to 11-4 this season and 2-2 in the Big Ten.

[autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] led all players in the game with 26 points with just four of the team’s six assists for the game. [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag] had 16 points but the Wolverines countered with more balanced scoring from the lineup as four players scored in double figures.

[autotag]Andrew Funk[/autotag] has been a reliable threat from three-point range for Penn State this season but he had a tough night in the loss, sinking just one of eight three-point attempts despite some good looks at times.

Penn State also lost the turnover battle with eight turnovers to Michigan’s three. Michigan also had a better night shooting the three-point shot, which helped keep Penn State at arm’s length in what was otherwise a fairly even matchup.

Penn State will head to Philadelphia on with to host Purdue at The Palestra. Purdue will come into the game with the nation’s no. 1 ranking but the Boilermakers did lose this week in a loss to Rutgers.

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Penn State basketball holds off Iowa for New Year’s Day victory

Penn State basketball started off 2023 by holding on for a win against Iowa

If Penn State needed a good gut check, it passed it on New Year’s Day. Penn State led Iowa by 18 points at halftime and had every reason to feel good about securing another win on its home court on Sunday, but Iowa made a serious run at the Nittany Lions in the second half. But each time Iowa cut things razor sharp on the scoreboard, Penn State responded and that led to a hard-earned 83-79 victory for the Nittany Lions, improving its record to 11-3 this season overall and 2-1 in the Big Ten as 2023 was ushered in on a winning note.

Penn State controlled and frustrated Iowa in the first half and led by a score of 44-26 at the break. But Iowa chipped away in the second half with Kris Murray’s game-high 32 points leading the way. Iowa came within a basket of Penn State twice in the second half but [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] and [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag] each came through on the free throw line in the final minute with four combined free throws made to help keep Penn State ahead of the Hawkeyes by just enough.

Pickett led the Nittany Lions with 26 points to go with his seven rebounds and six assists and one steal. the 26 points scored by Pickett is his personal best since joining the Penn State program last season. [autotag]Andrew Funk[/autotag] was the team’s second-leading scorer with 20 points fueled by five three-pointers. Lundy, who recorded a double-double in his last game, added 10 points and five rebounds. Penn State also got 14 points from [autotag]Camren Wynter[/autotag] to have four starters have double-digit point totals.

[autotag]Myles Dread[/autotag] contributed seven points off the Penn State bench and is now just two points shy of the 1,000-point mark for his career.

Next up for Penn State is a road trip to Michigan. The Nittany Lions tipoff with the Wolverines on Wednesday night on the Big Ten Network. Michigan improved to 8-5 this season with a thrashing of Maryland in Ann Arbor on Sunday. Michigan blew out Maryland 81-46.

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Seth Lundy records double-double in return, Penn State tops Delaware State

Seth Lundy records double-double in return as Penn State tops Delaware State

[autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag] certainly left an impact on the court in his return to action after missing one game due to injury. Lundy recorded a double-double in Penn State’s 60-46 home win over Delaware State on Thursday afternoon. The win improved Penn State to 10-3 as the calendar year and non-conference schedule comes to a close. Penn State will play a Big Ten schedule for the remainder of the season beginning on Sunday against Iowa.

Lundy scored a game-high 15 points and added 10 rebounds for the double-double, his second of the season. He was also the team’s leading scorer for the fourth time this season. [autotag]Andrew Funk[/autotag] (12 points) and [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] (10 points) each recorded double-digit point totals in the win.

Penn State’s offense wasn’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard in its final home game of 2022, but it didn’t have to. The defense held the struggling visitors to fewer than 50 points, marking the first time that happened this season.

[autotag]Myles Dread[/autotag] continues to inch closer to the 1,000-point mark. With six points against the Hornets, Dread is now nine points away from the century mark.

Penn State’s next game will help usher in 2023 with a Big Ten contest against Iowa. Penn State will host the Hawkeyes at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, January 1, 2023.

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Seth Lundy injured in Penn State’s romp of Canisius

Penn State lost Seth Lundy to an injury in a blowout home win of Canisius on Sunday.

After getting off to a hot start on Sunday afternoon, [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag]’s day was cut short due to an injury that left him on crutches. Despite losing Lundy to an injury, Penn State had no problem blowing away a struggling Canisius program to improve to 8-3 on the season. Penn State used a big second-half outburst to pull away from Canisius in a 97-67 victory in the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday afternoon.

Head coach [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] said after the game he did have any specific updates on the status of Lundy but did say he hopes it is nothing too serious. Shrewsberry suggested if the injury was serious, that Lundy may not have returned to watch the rest of the game on the Penn State bench.

As may have been expected, Penn State did start the game a little rusty after having the last week off since their upset road win at Illinois. Canisius jumped out to a 20-11 lead seven minutes into the game before Penn State established a rhythm. Lundy had 10 points and six rebounds in 13 minutes before leaving the game with an injury, but [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] picked things up to get the Nittany Lions moving in the right direction. Pickett highlighted a 17-8 run by connecting on eight of nine shots in a four-minute span to tie the game at 28-28.

The defense tightened things up as well as Canisius hit a dry spell with their shots as Penn State was taking control. A quick outburst to start the second half really helped to put the clamps down on Canisius and [autotag]Andrew Funk[/autotag] lit up the three-point line in the midst of a 22-2 run to put Penn State up 64-38 six minutes into the second half. Funk ended the game with five three-pointers made.

This is the fourth time this season Penn State has scored at least 90 points in a game. The 97 points scored on Sunday is a season-high for the program.

Next up for the Nittany Lions is another home game on Thursday night. Penn Strate will host Quinnipiac for an 8:30 p.m. tipoff on Big Ten Network.

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Penn State basketball photos from a blowout win over Canisius

Photos from Penn State’s 97-67 win over Canisius on Sunday afternoon.

Penn State men’s basketball took care of business at home against Canisius on Sunday afternoon with a 97-67 victory keyed by a big second half. The Nittany Lions improved to 8-3 on the year with 13 different players scoring in the effort with [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] leading the way with 16 points and nine assists and [autotag]Andrew Funk[/autotag] continuing to work behind the three-point line with five three-pointers in the second half alone.

[autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag] got off to a fast start in the game with 10 points and six rebounds in just 13 minutes before having to leave the game with an injury. Heda coach [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] said after the game he hopes it is nothing too serious, but there is no timetable for his potential return at this point.

Here are some of the best photos from Penn State’s lopsided non-conference win in the Bryce Jordan Center on a snowy weekend in Happy Valley.

Penn State basketball photos: Nittany Lions drop Big Ten opener to Michigan State

Best photos from Penn State’s basketball game against Michigan State on Wednesday night.

Penn State’s home record took its first blemish of the season on Wednesday evening with a loss to the Michigan State Spartans. A hard-fought game with the Spartans saw a total of 12 lead changes and was hanging in the balance until the final minutes of the game where Penn State’s cold shooting allowed the visitors to pull away for a win in the Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn State jumped out to a nice lead in the first half with a fun outburst, but the Spartans chipped away and the two teams traded blows for much of the night. [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag] led Penn State with 16 points and [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] added 13 points. Michigan State guard A.J. Hoggard led the winning effort with 23 points, a game-high.

Penn State suffered its second straight loss and will have a tough time snapping their losing skid with a road game at Illinois coming up this weekend.

Here are the best photos from the game against Michigan State.

Penn State drops double overtime thriller at Clemson

Three players scoring at least 20 points wasn’t enough to help Penn State at Clemson in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Penn State trailed Clemson by seven points in the final minute of regulation on Tuesday night but came through with a wild rally with Andrew Funk’s three-pointer forcing overtime, but the Nittany Lions came up short in a competitive double overtime game in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Penn State lost its first true road game of the season, 101-94.

Three Penn State players scored at least 20 points in the high-scoring game. [autotag]Camren Wynter[/autotag] led Penn State with 26 points scored. [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] had 23 points with eight assists and seven rebounds. And [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag] ended the game with 23 points. It is the first time since 2006 that three players scored at least 20 points in the same game. Lundy also had a double-double with 12 rebounds.

Penn State’s three-point shooting struggled against the Tigers for much of the night, with Penn State hitting on just 11 of 36 three-point attempts. Lundy hit on four of his eight attempts, and Wynter connected on three of six.

Penn State led the Tigers by six points at halftime but Clemson didn’t take long to take a lead in the second half. Penn State is now 11-11 all-time in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. It was announced this week this will be the final season for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, which means Penn State broke even in the conference-vs-conference challenge.

Penn State is now 6-2 this season, and 0-1 in true road games (2-2 away from home). As a program, Penn State is 0-5 against Clemson in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Penn State will begin Big Ten competition with its next game. The Nittany Lions will host Michigan State next Wednesday, December 7.

The Big Ten and ACC split all six games on the schedule on Tuesday night with Illinois, Maryland, and Iowa scoring wins for the Big Ten and Michigan and Wisconsin losing close games at home. The ACC leads the Big Ten 5-3 going into Wednesday’s final games of this year’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

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Penn State basketball suffers first loss to Virginia Tech in Charleston Classic

Penn State men’s basketball will look to rebound form its first loss of the season

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, but the Penn State men’s basketball team took its first loss of the season on Friday. Penn State battled back in the second half against Virginia Tech in the second round of the Shiners Children’s Charleston Classic on Friday afternoon but could not quite pull itself out of the hole it dug before halftime. Penn State lost to the Hokies by a score of 61-59.

Virginia Tech outpaced Penn State from the start of the game and built a 16-point lead, which provided the Nittany Lions with their first real dose of adversity early on in the season. The rally was led by [autotag]Andrew Funk[/autotag], who led the way with a 21-point effort, and five three-pointers made by [autotag]Myles Dread[/autotag]. After their 20-point efforts in the opening game of the tournament, [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] and [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag] were limited to just 13 combined points by the Virginia Tech defense.

The Hokies had balanced scoring from its starting five with four starters scoring in double-digits. Grant Basile led the effort with 17 points in just 26 minutes for the Hokies.

Penn State will now play in the third-place game of the Charleston Classic on Sunday evening. The Nittany Lions will face Colorado State. The Rams blew out South Carolina in its opening game of the tournament but lost to the host school, Charleston, on Friday. Charleston will face Virginia Tech on Sunday afternoon for the tournament championship.

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Penn State tops Furman in Charleston Classic opener; Hokies up next

Jalen Pickett and Seth Lundy lead Penn State to Charleston Classic win over Furman

After starting the season with three wins at home, Penn State improved to 4-0 with a victory over Furman in the opening game of the 2022 Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic in Charleston, South Carolina. Penn State’s 73-68 win was highlighted by 20-point games from [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] and [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag] as Penn State seized control in the first half and held off a second-half rally by the Paladins.

Furman’s big scoring threat, Mike Bothwell, got his scoring in as expected. Bothwell scored a game-high 26 points for Furman, and Tyrese Hughley contributed 15 points off the bench for the Paladins. But Penn State’s balanced scoring attack by Pickett and Lundy helped give Penn State the edge, and [autotag]Myles Dread[/autotag] adding nine points off the Penn State bench helped, with all of the scoring coming by way of three three-point shots.

Penn State once again hit double-digits for made three-pointers with 11, but Furman did win the battle on the glass by out-rebounding Penn State 40-32, which included a 14-7 advantage with offensive rebounds.

[autotag]Camren Wynter[/autotag] had seven points and three rebounds and three assists. [autotag]Andrew Funk[/autotag] was 2-of-8 on his three-point attempts.

Penn State will face Virginia Tech in the second round of the Charleston Classic on Friday. The Nittany Lions and Hokies will kick off the Friday schedule of the tournament at 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2. Virginia Tech defeated Old Dominion in the second game of the day on Thursday following Penn State’s win.

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Jalen Pickett triple-double leads Penn State to win over Butler

Jalen Pickett had just the second triple-double in Penn State history in a win over Butler Monday night.

After somewhat cruising past the first two opponents of the season, Penn State men’s basketball faced a stiffer challenge Monday night in the Gavitt Tipoff Games from the Butler Bulldogs. But a historic night from [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] helped the Nittany Lions overcome some adversity on the court and improve to 3-0 at the Bryce Jordan Center with a 68-62 victory.

Pickett recorded a triple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists. It is just the second triple-double in Penn State’s program history. The last Nittany Lion to record a triple-double was Calvin Booth in an NIT game against Dayton on March 16, 1998.

“He starts to do things as he starts to play in the post or off picks,” Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry said of Pickett’s play in his postgame press conference. “He’s adjusting as the game goes. There may be things he misses early on in the game, but he makes the switch pretty quickly after learning about it. He’s also really good at seeing the defense and trying to take advantage of the opportunity.”

Butler got a big effort from center Manny Bates, who had a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds. Four different Butler players scored in double figures, but the same was true for Penn State as well. In addition to Pickett’s big night, [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag], [autotag]Andrew Funk[/autotag], and [autotag]Camren Wynter[/autotag] each scored in double figures in the win. Funk drained three three-pointers as Penn State hit on 10 of their 24 three-point shots for another game with at least 10 three-pointers made.

Penn State led by as many as 16 points after regaining control of the game in the second half, but Butler worked its way out of an 11-point hole in the first half to lead by two late in the first half. Penn State did manage to get to halftime with a lead though.

Gavitt Tipoff Games Update

Penn State’s win evened the Gavitt Tipoff Games between the Big Ten and the Big East. Monday’s doubleheader to kick off the week-long series of games between the two conferences actually began a little earlier in the night with DePaul handing Minnesota a loss in Minneapolis, 69-53. The series is now even at one win each going into Tuesday night.

Tuesday night features the next two games in the Gavitt Tipoff Games with Northwestern visiting Georgetown and Purdue hosting Marquette. Both games will air on FS1 with Georgetown and Northwestern first to tip at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Other Big Ten teams in action on Tuesday not participating in the event include Wisconsin (vs. Green Bay), Maryland (vs. Binghamton) and Michigan State (vs. Kentucky in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis).

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Up Next

Penn State’s next game will take them away from the Bryce Jordan Center as they head south to participate in the Charleston Classic, beginning Thursday and running through Sunday. Penn State will face Furman in their first game in the tournament on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET.

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