WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Penn State men's basketball team improved to 3-0 with an 81-66 win over Georgetown Thursday night at Capital One Arena. The Nittany Lions' season-high 13 three-pointers helped put Penn State ahead, then extend the lead with nine combined from sophomore guards Myreon Jones with a career-best five and four by Myles Dread. Myreon Jones was the game's leading scorer with a career-best 21 points.
"I thought our defense and our rebounding were timely, more timely," said Penn State men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers. "They (Georgetown) would go on a run, they would make a big shot or a big play, maybe steal the momentum just for a little bit, and then we were able to get a big shot, a big stop or a big rebound. I thought that was critical. I thought our mindset was really good, especially early in the second half when they went on a little bit of a run," Chambers said. "We just had a 'next play, next play' mentality. I'm really proud of these guys."
Myreon Jones had the hot hand, scoring 14 of Penn State's first 16 points in the first 5:08 for a 16-5 lead. The margin increased to 18 points at 25-7 as sophomore guard Izaiah Brockington made three-straight field goals from close range and Dread drilled a 3-pointer off a perfect Jamari Wheeler pass.
Georgetown chipped away at the Nittany Lion lead and got the margin down to single-digits after the under-eight-minute timeout in the first half. The Hoyas made another run out of halftime, coming within five points after an Omer Yurtseven basket and free throw. A Dread trey, dunk by Mike Watkins and one of Myreon Jones' 3-pointers brought the Nittany Lion lead back up to nine, 50-41.
Over a four-minute stretch in the second half, beginning with Watkins' dunk, five different Nittany Lions made field goals to give Penn State a 64-50 lead. The Hoyas were stuck on 50 points for nearly two minutes before Galen Alexander hit a 3-pointer to break Georgetown's scoring drought.
Penn State responded to the Georgetown runs each time to keep its lead and would never trail in the contest.
The Nittany Lions took a 42-34 lead into the locker room at the half after Georgetown cut the deficit to six points twice.
Dread connected on his four triples, two in each half, and had 14 points as well as four assists on the night. Dread's only two-point basket of the night, a layup five minutes into the second half, put Penn State up by double digits for the rest of the night.
Senior forward Lamar Stevens scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half and pulled down a team-best nine rebounds. His stat line included a career-best four steals, three assists and a block that moved him into Penn State's career top-10 list with 91.
Penn State had 15 steals and the two teams combined for 41 turnovers with Georgetown with 21 and Penn State with 20. The Nittany Lions were able to capitalize on the Hoya miscues with 22 points.
Omer Yurtseven led the Hoyas with 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds while James Akinjo had 13 points. Penn State held Georgetown to 19 points below its season average.
Penn State returns to the Bryce Jordan Center on Tuesday, November 19 at 6:30 p.m. ET to face Bucknell in the first of two NIT Season Tip-Off games on campus.
GAME NOTES:
- For only the fourth time in program history, Penn State has scored 80 or more points in its first three games of the season, and for the first time since 1995-96, has won all three games.
- Penn State had 15 steals, its highest total since grabbing 18 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 12, 2017.
- For the first time in the coach Patrick Chambers era, Penn State had three-straight games with double-digits in its 3-point field goal total. The Nittany Lions had their season-best 13 vs. Georgetown after 12 in the season opener and 11 vs. Wagner.
- Penn State has started the season 3-0 for the third time under head coach Patrick Chambers.
Penn State returns home to the Bryce Jordan Center for a 6:30 p.m. game Tuesday, Nov. 19 vs. Bucknell. Penn State freshmen are admitted free to this game and Penn State faculty and staff can receive a special promotional ticket price by showing their Penn State ID card.
For more information about single-game tickets or the mobile flex plan for men's basketball, visit the online ticket information page 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.