Penn State Men’s Basketball Falls 81-56 to UMass

Penn State men’s basketball picked up its first loss of the season on Monday evening as the Nittany Lions struggled to score, falling 81-56 to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Seth Lundy led the way for the Nittany Lions for the second-straight game, this time with 14 points and four rebounds. Sam Sessoms backed up a solid opening night performance five days ago, scoring 12 points in the losing effort. Senior center John Harrar brought down 12 rebounds in the defeat while transfer guard Jalen Pickett dished out seven assists.

The real star of the show was former Penn State forward Trent Buttrick, who led UMass with 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the win. Buttrick was among the players who transferred to new programs this offseason following the departure of longtime head coach Pat Chambers. Buttrick had played limited minutes while at Penn State but had seen an expanded role under interim head coach Jim Ferry during the 2020 campaign.

It was a game of runs in the first half with both teams trading blows UMass took a 37-28 lead with inside two minutes to go in the half but a brief run fueled by three Pickett free throws and a basket by Sessoms cut the margin to just 37-33 at the break.

Penn State’s cold shooting continued to open the second half as the Nittany Lions turned the ball over three times and failed to make a shot in the opening three minutes. Two free throws by Buttrick gave UMass a 41-33 lead early in the half and another three-pointer by the former Nittany Lion turned it into a 44-35 game with 16:21 to go.

The game largely continued on that path the remainder of the way, with UMass answering any Nittany Lion runs, although those were fleeting. Penn State scored just 21 points in the final 16 minutes of regulation while giving up nearly 40 over the same span.

The Nittany Lions shot just 37.3% from the field on the night while UMass made nearly 50% of its field goals, going 13-for-29 from beyond the arc. The Nittany Lions also committed 15 turnovers and made only 4-of-15 shots from three. Guard Myles Dread – who did not start on Monday – was 1-of-4 from range while committing three fouls. He is now 1-for-7 from beyond the arc this season.

The Nittany Lions return home to play St. Francis Brooklyn as a campus game for the Emerald Coast Classic at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The game will stream on BTN+.