NICEVILLE, Fla. – The Penn State men's basketball team (3-2, 0-0 Big Ten) took the undefeated LSU Tigers (6-0, 0-0 SEC) to overtime following a last-second game-tying layup by junior Seth Lundy, but the Nittany Lions ultimately fell in extra time, 68-63, in the opening game of the 2021 Emerald Coast Classic. The back-and-forth defensive battle saw seven lead changes, five ties, and neither team lead by more than five points in regulation.
Senior guard Jalen Pickett led the Nittany Lions in scoring with 14 points, including four 3-pointers, for his second-straight game in double digits. He also added a season-high eight rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal to his stat line.
SeniorsSam Sessoms recorded a double-double on 13 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double as a Nittany Lion and the fourth of his career. All of Sessoms' points came in the second half plus the overtime period. He also added a game-high five assists plus a block.
Senior Myles Dread had 11 points of his own with three 3-pointers for a season high.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead thanks to back-to-back triples from Dread and Pickett.
- Both teams played well defensively and struggled on the offensive end to start the game as they traded four-minute scoring droughts and shot a combined 8-for-27 from the field to get to the under-12 media timeout.
- LSU took a 10-8 lead right before the timeout and got up to a five-point, 13-8, advantage before the Nittany Lions went off on a 11-3 run to make it 19-16 just past the midway point of the first half.
- Penn State shot well from the floor down the stretch, making 5-of-6 leading up to the under-4 media timeout, and would hold LSU to make 2-of-11 in the final minutes of the first half. The Nittany Lion defense held the Tigers to just a 28.2 percent clip from the field in the opening half to take a slight 29-26 advantage to the locker room.
- Pickett started off the second half with two 3-pointers as the Nittany Lions would see their lead extend to as much as five in the opening minutes.
- LSU took the 40-39 lead at the 12:47 mark, its first lead since 13:11 of the first half, but Dread would come back up the floor and drain a three to put Penn State back on top.
- The Tigers then had a 7-0 run before Jaheam Cornwall hit a corner three to tie the game at 47-47.
- From there, LSU would extend its lead to as much as five again before Sessoms came roaring back, scoring the next nine points for the Nittany Lions, to give his team the 56-55 lead with 48 seconds left.
- LSU went down the floor and hit a three to take a 58-56 advantage with 35 seconds remaining.
- After Shrewsberry called a handful of timeouts and with just four seconds left in regulation, Lundy came up with the put-back layup to tie the game at 58-58 with 0.6 second to play to force overtime.
- LSU scored the first six points of overtime for its largest lead of the game. The Nittany Lions got as close as two, but LSU was able to close out the 68-63 win.
GAME NOTES
- The Penn State defense held LSU almost 20 points below its season-scoring average of 85.4 points. The defense also held the Tigers to just a 34.8 percent (24-69) clip from the field and 16.7 percent from beyond the arc (4-24), far below their respective season averages of 50.0 and 38.4.
- The Nittany Lions had three players in double digits, having done so in four of five games this season.
- Senior Sam Sessoms recorded his fourth career double-double and his first as a Nittany Lion with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
- Senior Myles Dread and transfer Jaheam Cornwall both posted season highs in points with 11 and 9, respectively.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry
UP NEXT
Penn State is set to face the loser of Wake Forest/Oregon State in the third-place game of the 2021 Emerald Coast Classic on Saturday, Nov. 27. Tip is set for 4 p.m. ET and will stream live via webstream at EmeraldCoastTV.com/ecc21.
The 2021-22 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.