UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team got contributions from up and down the lineup in another highly-efficient offensive performance as the Nittany Lions took down Loyola University Maryland 90-65 Thursday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
Penn State has now scored 90 or more points in both of its games this season as the Nittany Lions start the 2022-23 campaign 2-0. Penn State has made 34 3-pointers and tallied 45 assists on 66 made baskets between the first two games.
Eleven different Nittany Lions scored as Penn State shot a blistering 57.9 percent (33-57) from the field and 53.5 percent (16-30) from 3-point range. The Penn State bench contributed 46 points in the full-team effort.
Camren Wynter led the Nittany Lions with 18 points, while Myles Dread and Kebba Njie each had 12 and Seth Lundy chipped in 10. Jalen Pickett facilitated all night long, dishing 11 of Penn State's 21 assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State raced out to a quick 11-4 lead thanks to a 3-for-4 showing from beyond the arc to open the game.
- The Nittany Lions held onto a 10-point lead at 18-8 before the Greyhounds used an 11-3 run over a four-minute stretch to pull within two at 21-19 with 8:49 left on the first-half clock.
- Three Dread 3-pointers in the next 5:39 highlighted a 14-4 Nittany Lion streak as Penn State surged back ahead 35-23 before taking a 40-29 lead into halftime.
- Penn State came out of the locker room red hot as the Nittany Lions started the second half 8-for-11 (72.7%) from the field and 4-for-6 (66.7%) from deep to stretch the advantage to 61-39 with 14:35 to play.
- The Greyhounds wouldn't get closer than 16 the rest of the way. The Nittany Lions spent the final five minutes of the game on a 13-4 run, with eight of those 13 points coming from freshmen Evan Mahaffey, Kanye Clary and Njie.
- A Mahaffey layup in the final minute cemented the 90-65 Penn State victory.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State's 90 points tonight and 93 points in Monday night's season opener marks the first time since December 2016 that Penn State has scored 90 points in back-to-back games (92 in win over St. John's on Dec. 18, 2016 and 96 in win over Morgan State on Dec. 21, 2016).
- The Nittany Lions hit 16 3-pointers tonight after draining 18 Monday, marking the first time in program history that Penn State has hit 15 or more 3-pointers in back-to-back games.
- Penn State shot 70.4 percent (19-27) from the field in the second half. It marks the first time that the Nittany Lions have shot over 70 percent in a half since Jan. 15, 2018 against Northwestern (70.8%).
- The Nittany Lions dished 21 assists against the Greyhounds after tallying 24 in Monday night's season opener. It marks the first time Penn State has record 20-plus assists in back-to-back games since Jan. 2, 2018 (20 at Maryland) and Dec. 30, 2017 (22 vs. Coppin State).
- Camren Wynter pulled down four rebounds to reach the impressive multi-faceted achievement of 1,500 career points, 500 career rebounds and 500 career assists. There are currently only three active Division I players who have reached all three marks: Wynter, Jalen Pickett and Wyoming's Hunter Maldonado.
- Penn State is now shooting 50.0 percent from 3-point range this season while averaging 17.0 made 3-pointers per game.
- Penn State improves to 2-0 on the season for the fifth time in the last six years.
- The Nittany Lions improve to 6-1 all-time against the Greyhounds and earn their fifth-straight win over Loyola Maryland.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry
Camren Wynter and Kebba Njie
UP NEXT
- Penn State closes out its season-opening homestand Monday night when the Nittany Lions host Butler in the 2022 edition of the Gavitt Games. Tipoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. and the game will be nationally televised on FS1.
The 2022-23 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.