UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team came out on the short-end of a tight game that saw 12 tied scores and 10 lead changes Sunday afternoon as USC escaped Happy Valley with a 77-75 win inside the Bryce Jordan Center.
The Nittany Lions led by as much as 12 early in the second half before USC battled back to take a lead as large as six points with 6:19 to play. Freddie Dilione V tied the game with a layup with 12 seconds to play, but the Trojans’ Alijah Arenas scored the game-winning layup with 0.7 on the clock to send USC home with the two-point win.
Dilione V led Penn State with 23 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Josh Reed tallied his eighth-straight double-digit scoring effort with 17 points. Ivan Jurić returned from a two-game illness layoff and contributed 13 points and eight rebounds. Dominick Stewart rounded out the Nittany Lion double-digit scorers with 11 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Nittany Lions forced three USC turnovers in the first four-plus minutes while four points from Josh Reed and two from Freddie Dilione V had the score tied at 6-6 at the first media timeout of the game.
- The Trojans pulled in front 14-10 following back-to-back triples before Ivan Jurić drilled a 3-pointer of his own to put the score at 14-11 with 12:07 to play in the first half.
- The Jurić 3-pointer sparked an 11-4 run for the Nittany Lions over the next three minutes as Penn State also used triples from Justin Houser and Dominick Stewart to pull in front 21-18 with 9:26 on the clock.
- USC answered with seven of the game’s next nine points before Reed stopped the streak with a tip-in layup at the 7:57 mark to knot the score at 25-25.
- The Trojans used a 7-3 spurt from 7:23 to 6:06 to take a 32-28 advantage and force a Penn State timeout.
- The Nittany Lions answered right back with a 12-2 run from 5:15 to 1:14 as Penn State held USC scoreless for a nearly four-minute stretch to control a 40-34 edge. The Trojans scored the final basket of the term with four seconds left in the half, but the Nittany Lions took a 40-36 lead into halftime.
- Baskets from Jurić, Stewart and Dilione V helped Penn State open the second half on a 10-2 spurt that quickly stretched Penn State’s advantage to 50-38 and forced a USC timeout less than three minutes into the term.
- The Trojans capitalized on a spell of Penn State turnovers to put together a 9-0 run from 14:54 to 12:55 and narrow the Nittany Lion lead down to two at 53-51.
- A pair of Kayden Mingo free throws momentarily halted the streak, but USC continued its momentum with nine of the game’s next 10 points to put the Trojans in front 60-56 with 8:39 to play.
- The USC lead reached as much as six at 64-58, but a conventional three-point play from Jurić and back-to-back Mingo buckets gave Penn State back the lead at 65-64 with 4:24 to play.
- The Trojans hit a second-chance triple on their next possession to reclaim the lead. USC worked its edge to four at 72-68 at 1:40 before Josh Reed hit a clutch 3-pointer 30 seconds later to make it a one-point game at 72-71 with 1:12 to play.
- USC hit a pair of free throws on its next possession and Penn State answered with a Stewart layup as it was still a one-point game at 74-73 with 20 seconds left on the clock.
- The Trojans hit the first of two free throws to make it 75-74 before Dilione V sprinted down the court and tossed in a fast-break layup to tie the game at 75-75 with 12 seconds to play.
- USC got the ball and took a timeout with 7.3 seconds left. The Trojans Alijah Arenas scored the game-winning layup with 0.7 seconds left as USC escaped with the 77-75 win.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State falls to 1-12 in Big Ten Conference play and 10-14 overall, while USC improves to 7-6 in conference play and 18-6 overall.
- USC evens the all-time series to 2-2, with Sunday’s game being the Trojans’ first-ever trip to State College.
- Penn State outscored USC in the paint, 42-38.
- USC came back from a 10-plus point deficit to beat a conference foe for the third time this season.
- Redshirt Junior guard Freddie Dilione V’s tallied his 18th double-digit scoring effort of the season and sixth 20-plus point game. He led the Nittany Lions in scoring for the eighth time this season with 23 points.
- With a 17-pointperformance, senior forward Josh Reed reached double figures for the eighth conference game in a row and 14th time this season.
- Freshman forward Ivan Jurić recorded his fifth double-digit performance in Big Ten Conference play, improving to 10 overall on the season.
UP NEXT
- Penn State makes its first trip to the Pacific Northwest this week with a two-game road swing at Washington and Oregon. The Nittany Lions begin the trip Wednesday night at Washington with a 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT tipoff on Big Ten Network.