MINNEAPOLIS – Jalen Pickett dazzled once again to lead the Penn State men's basketball team to its second-straight win with a 76-69 road victory at Minnesota Saturday night.
Pickett followed up his 41-point performance from Tuesday night with another monster effort, finishing with 32 points, nine rebounds and eight assists against the Gophers. Camren Wynter tallied 14 points, five assists and four rebounds, while Andrew Funk chipped in 11 points including a dagger of a 3-pointer in the final minutes.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Nittany Lions made seven of their first nine shots to control an early 17-12 edge just over seven minutes into the game. The Gophers scored the next seven points to briefly pull ahead before Seth Lundy drilled a triple at the 11:52 mark that sparked a 10-2 Nittany Lion run. Pickett scored five during the streak before Camren Wynter hit a pull-up jumper to put Penn State up 27-21 with 8:50 left on the first half clock.
- Minnesota's Dawson Garcia scored eight-straight Gopher points to knot the score at 29-29 with 6:19, but Penn State controlled the remainder of the opening half. The Nittany Lions spent the last 5:28 of the term on a 16-6 run as Penn State went 4-for-5 from deep and 6-for-9 from the field and held the Gophers scoreless for the final 2:42 to take a 45-35 lead into the locker room.
- The Nittany Lions started the second half 0-for-11 from the field and Minnesota strung together a 13-1 run to erase the Penn State lead and pull in front at 48-46 just over six minutes into the term.
- The Gophers were up 52-50 three minutes later before Pickett drilled a key 3-pointer at the 11:28 mark that ignited an 11-0 Nittany Lion run. Pickett scored seven in the stretch while Seth Lundy added four and Penn State pulled back ahead by nine 61-52 with 8:26 to play.
- Minnesota worked its way back within three at 67-64, but Pickett answered once again with a layup at the 3:32 mark that gave Penn State a 69-64 edge at the final media timeout.
- Funk nailed a dagger at the 1:20 mark to all but seal the 76-69 win for the Nittany Lions.
GAME NOTES
- Over the last two games, Jalen Pickett is averaging 36.5 points per game on 65% shooting, 8 assists per game and 5.5 rebounds per game.
- Pickett collected his 700th career rebound with his second board of the game midway through the first half and is now the first Division I men's college basketball player in at least the last 37 years to have career marks of 2,000+ points, 700+ rebounds and 700+ assists. Pickett currently owns career marks of 2,054 points, 707 rebounds and 787 assists.
- Pickett is the first Nittany Lion to post back-to-back 30-point games since Joe Crispin on Jan. 19 and 22, 2000.
- Penn State scored 45 points in the first half, marking the fourth-straight half the Nittany Lions have scored 40 or more points dating back to the second half of the Feb. 11 game at Maryland.
- The Nittany Lions defeated the Gophers in Minneapolis for just the fourth time in program history and for the first time since 2015.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions travel to Ohio State Thursday night for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff on FS1.
The 2022-23 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.