UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – A 17-4 run to close the first half propelled Penn State to a 74-52 victory over UMBC at the Bryce Jordan Center in its final nonconference game of the season. Freshman guard Rasir Bolton had a game-high 18 points with four 3-pointers to lead the Nittany Lions offensively.
"Today, I thought, was huge," said Nittany Lion basketball coach Patrick Chambers. "We were ready for UMBC, Ryan Odom is a great coach, he has great players, they are going to do really well in their league…They (the Nittany Lions) came back and they worked, we got better, and we competed there and there was some physicality, there was some chippyness and I think that is what came out today. We really played solid defense, shared the ball, it was nice to see the ball go in the basket for us."
Penn State (7-6) extended its 40-27 halftime lead early over UMBC (7-7) in the second half as Bolton opened the scoring for the Nittany Lions with a dunk and then senior guard Josh Reaves and freshman guard Myreon Jones combined for the next 10 Penn State points for a 52-35 lead with 14:06 to play.
Over the last 12:39 in the game, the Penn State defense allowed only 12 UMBC points on four baskets and four free throws. On the other side, Penn State took care of the ball with only three turnovers in the second half.
Nine Nittany Lions scored points in the game with junior forward Lamar Stevens adding 16 points to extend his streak of double-figure scoring games to 20. Senior guard Josh Reaves and freshman guard Myles Dread had nine points each with Dread's coming off three 3-pointers and Reaves' off three field goals and two free throws.
Reaves had a game-best five assists and Stevens three as Penn State had 14 assists on 25 baskets. Sophomore forward Trent Buttrick, who made his first career start Saturday, had three points at the end of the game to give Penn State its final 22-point victory margin and added two rebounds, a block and steal to his stat line.
At the break, Penn State was 14-24 (58.3) percent from the floor with Stevens recording 11 points by the break off 5-8 shooting from the field. Bolton had 10 in the first period with his four treys split between the halves.
Penn State swept the statistical advantages, winning the points-in-the-paint battle (24-20), points off turnovers (16-9), second chance (13-11), fast break (9-0) and offense from the bench categories (21-19). The Nittany Lions topped the Retrievers in rebounds 36-30, blocks (6-1), steals (6-4) and had fewer turnovers (10-11).
Holding UMBC to 35.7 percent shooting from the field, Penn State is now 4-0 this season when it holds its opponents to a field goal percentage of less than 40 percent. The Nittany Lions are now 38-3 (92.7) in such games since the start of the 2015-16 season.
UMBC's Joe Sherburne had 16 points for the Retrievers while Daniel Akin shared high-rebounding honors with Penn State's Stevens.
"That really put us through a test, a lot of tests," Chambers said. "I think that's why we are mentality and physically ready to head to Michigan and play in the Big Ten…We could have easily done a different thing with our scheduling and we didn't, but we decided to put these guys through a very difficult stretch of being on the road, playing tough teams, playing different conferences and I think that only prepares you for the Big Ten and further."
The Nittany Lions resume their Big Ten Conference schedule on Thursday, Jan. 3 at No. 2 Michigan. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN. Penn State returns to the Bryce Jordan Center for a 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 6 home game against Wisconsin.
For information or to purchase Penn State men's single-game tickets, visit GoPSUsports.com/mbbsinglegametix or call 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Keep up to date with the latest information from Coach Chambers and the Nittany Lions on Twitter by following @Coach_Chambers and @PennStateMBB, on Facebook and Instagram at @PennStateMBB.
