Penn State welcomed Boston University for a Tuesday night clash in front of a sparsely-attended Bryce Jordan Center with students home for Thanksgiving break.
After scoring a season-low 65 points last Saturday in a loss to Providence, the Nittany Lions took control early and shot well in a 96-87 win.
“We watched that (Providence) game like five times,” head coach Mike Rhoades said after the game. “We played hard, we were close enough to win the game, but not there enough to win it … I thought they responded the right way.”
How it happened:
Penn State jumped out to a 10-7 advantage leading into the first media timeout of the game, including five points from Eli Rice who entered the game averaging 5.2 points per contest.
The Nittany Lions extended the lead to 33-17 off a 16-4 run, with buckets from all five players. They sped up the pace of play, drawing fouls on the attack and forcing rushed shots from the Terriers on the other end of the court.
Ivan Jurić maintained a strong paint presence, with seven points in a four-minute span against Boston big man Ben Defty, a fellow European and the Terriers’ leading scorer this season, helping Penn State mount a 38-22 lead.
“Thought we got off to a good first half, just being efficient offensively … We’ve got a long way to go with this young team on defense,” Rhoades said.
Boston settled in, but Penn State continued shooting at an efficient 67.9% rate to enter halftime with a 51-35 lead, led by 11 points from Josh Reed who was a perfect four-for-four from the floor to open the game.
“Everyone took and made good shots on offense. I felt like that helped us win tonight,” Reed said after the game.
The Nittany Lions attempted to leverage a size advantage to open the second half, causing a symphony of whistles which slowed the game out of the break, with five stoppages in the first three minutes of play.
A Jurić dunk propelled Penn State to a 61-40 lead as he entered double digits after Rice found him under the hoop.
Off the bench, Sasa Ciani — who had a rough night shooting — was the first to reach three fouls and was quickly subbed out for Jurić.
A 15-4 run kicked off by back-to-back 3-pointers from Azmar Abdullah pulled the Terriers within the closest margin to that point of the second half, 65-55.
The momentum switched back to the home team, punctuated by a steal from Dominick Stewart who scored on the other end to give Penn State a 71-55 lead.
Michael McNair was responsible for 11 consecutive Terrier points, including a pair of triples, to keep the game within reach by the under-eight TV timeout. He finished the game with 28 points, most on either team.
The free throws started piling up for the Nittany Lions, who converted on 28 of 40 shots from the stripe on the night. Boston reached 21 fouls in the second half alone, including six players tallying at least four and two fouling out, while Penn State remained disciplined with just 13 all game.
The Terriers shot lights out from beyond the arc to keep things interesting, hitting three straight with less than two minutes to play.
Melih Tunca came alive late, scoring 11 of his 16 points in the final five minutes of game time to help close out a bounce-back 96-87 win.
“He’s just a really good basketball player and he has such a great feel,” Rhoades said. “He can get downfield offensively and make shots.”
Team leaders:
Penn State:
Points: Josh Reed, 17
Rebounds: Josh Reed, 8
Assists: Kayden Mingo, 4
Boston:
Points: Michael McNair, 28
Rebounds: Ben Defty, 8
Assists: Chance Gladden, 4
Up next: Penn State will host Sacred Heart at the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday, with tipoff slated for 6 p.m.
