CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Penn State men's basketball team used a dominating defensive effort to take down Colorado State 68-56 in the third-place game of the Charleston Classic Sunday evening at TD Arena.
The Nittany Lions set the tone from the start, jumping out to a 13-0 lead and never letting the Rams closer than six in the wire-to-wire victory. The Penn State defense held Colorado State to a season-low 56 points, 18.2 points below the 74.2 ppg average the Rams entered the game with.
Senior Seth Lundy led the Nittany Lions with 17 points and added eight rebounds. Senior+ Jalen Pickett recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Senior+ Camren Wynter added nine points, while senior+ Andrew Funk and freshman Kebba Njie each tallied eight.
Pickett earned a spot on the Charleston Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 15.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 6.0 apg through the three tournament contests.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State raced out to a quick 13-0 lead just under seven minutes into the game as five different Nittany Lions scored and the PSU defense kept Colorado State off the board until the 12:35 mark of the first half.
- The Rams answered with 11 of the next 15 points to pull within six at 17-11 with 8:49 left on the first-half clock.
- Lundy drilled a triple at the 7:17 mark and added six more points in the final three minutes of the half as Penn State strung together a 16-10 streak to close the term and take a 33-21 lead into the locker room.
- Njie converted an and-one opportunity to open the second half before Pickett added five points and Wynter drilled a 3-pointer to put the Penn State lead at 44-29 just over five minutes into the term.
- The Rams were back within 10 five minutes later before freshmen Evan Mahaffey and Kanye Clary provided a spark on both ends of the court and a Clary driving layup ignited a 10-3 Penn State run that extended the Nittany Lion lead to 17 at 56-39 with 8:49 to play.
- Colorado State wouldn't get closer than 15 until the final 30 seconds as Penn State cruised to the 68-56 victory.
GAME NOTES
- The Rams entered Sunday's game averaging 74.2 ppg game and Penn State held Colorado State 18.2 points below their season scoring average.
- The Nittany Lion defense limited the Rams to a 32.8% (21-64) mark from the field and 20.0% clip (6-30) from downtown.
- Seth Lundy finished with a game-high 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He added eight rebounds and a steal.
- Jalen Pickett notched his second double-double in the last four games with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
- Penn State held a 12-2 edge in fast-break points.
- Ten different Nittany Lions saw action, with all 10 playing six or more minutes.
- Freshman Kebba Njie earned his first-career start.
- Penn State wraps up the Charleston Classic 2-1 and improves to 5-1 on the season.
UP NEXT
- Having played six games in 13 days to start the season, the Nittany Lions will now have a few days to regroup before hosting in-state foe Lafayette Friday at 7 p.m. inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
The 2022-23 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.