PHILADELPHIA - The Penn State men's basketball team dropped an 82-76 result against Pitt in the 150th matchup between the in-state rivals at The Palestra on Sunday night. The Nittany Lions moved to 2-1 on the season with the Panthers sitting at 3-0.
Forward Ivan Jurić notched his third straight double-double to begin his sophomore campaign with a season-high 16 points and 13 rebounds. The Zagreb, Croatia native went 9-of-10 from the free throw line and tacked on one assist and a steal.
Graduate guard Dasonte Bowen led Penn State with a season-high 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and a 6-for-6 mark at the free throw line. He also had two dimes in the game.
Fifth year forwards Roko Prkačin and Josh Reed also scored in double figures with 11 points to go along with seven boards each. Prkačin added to his stat line with two assists and two steals.
In a physical, 40-minute battle between the Keystone State foes, Penn State brought the necessary toughness to the historic venue. The two teams combined for 50 fouls with the Nittany Lions making 81% (29-36) of their attempts from the charity stripe. The Blue & White outrebounded the Panthers by a 37-28 margin.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The rivals battled to a 17-17 tie heading into the second media timeout with 11:30 left in the first half. Penn State found scoring from five different Nittany Lions in the process with Bowen leading the way with five early points in part due to an and-one bucket as he drove to the basket. Jurić and Prkačin contributed four and three points each with both hauling in offensive rebounds to lead to points. Senior guard Jay Rodgers drained a corner 3-pointer to tie the game right before the media break.
Out of the break, junior forward François Wibaut notched his third point of the night on the front end of a one-and-one to give PSU its first lead of the game. The game was a physical slugfest on both ends as Penn State reached the double bonus with 8:38 left in the frame. Prkačin and Wibaut would help the Blue & White maintain the slight edge with conversions at the line as the team held a 27-26 advantage going into the under-eight media timeout.
Penn State took a four-point lead to force a Pitt timeout with 6:25 to play after Reed made a tough jumper from just beyond the foul line before redshirt junior guard/forward Brant Byers hit a 3-pointer to ignite the Penn State faithful in attendance. After the timeout, Byers swished another shot from beyond the arc, this time from the left wing, to extend the lead to 35-28 with 5:15 to go.
The Panthers closed the half on a 14-3 run to hold a 42-38 edge heading into the locker room.
Bowen scored the first six points of the second half for Penn State with a 3-pointer and a driving reverse layup with the foul. Byers made two from the charity stripe before a strong drive by Wibaut brought him to the line to cut the deficit to one. The Nittany Lions retook the lead following a Pitt turnover that led to a Wibaut finish in transition to make the score 49-48 with 15:25 to play.
Pitt responded with a five-point run and held a 57-53 lead at the under-12 media break. Jurić was a force down low out of the timeout as he drew multiple fouls and converted four of his five free throws to keep Penn State within striking distance. The Panthers held a 65-60 lead entering the next break with 7:35 left.
Prkačin made consecutive buckets down low to bring the game within three. Jurić continued to battle in the paint and drained two more free throws. Pitt would extend its lead to as much as eight before Jurić hit a 3-pointer with under a minute to play to cut the deficit to five. Reed capitalized off a turnover to make it a one-possession game at 77-74 with 38 seconds left.
The Panthers split a trip to the line, and then Bowen made both of his attempts to make it a two-point game with 19 ticks on the clock. Pitt converted its next two free throws to close out the game with an 82-76 final score.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Saturday's matchup celebrated the Palestra's 100th anniversary while renewing an in-state rivalry for the 150th all-time meeting between Penn State and Pitt.
- Penn State is now 25-50 all-time at the Palestra and 76-74 against Pitt.
- Penn State suffered its first defeat of the 2026-27 season, falling to 2-1 overall.
- The Nittany Lions held a 37-28 advantage on the glass, marking the third consecutive game Penn State has outrebounded its opponent. Through three contests, Penn State holds a commanding 122-86 rebounding advantage, an average margin of plus-12.0 boards per game.
- Penn State continued its strong performance at the charity stripe, connecting on 29-of-36 (80.6%) free throw attempts. The Nittany Lions have now converted 93-of-114 (81.6%) free throws through their first three games, averaging 31.0 made free throws per contest.
- Four Nittany Lions reached double figures in scoring for the third consecutive game, as Dasonte Bowen (17), Jurić (16), Prkačin (11) and Reed (11) paced the Blue & White offense.
- Penn State held Pitt to just 28 rebounds, marking the third consecutive game the Nittany Lions have limited their opponent to fewer than 30 boards.
- The Nittany Lions grabbed 12 offensive rebounds and scored 10 second-chance points. Penn State has collected at least 12 offensive rebounds in all three games this season, totaling 41 offensive boards.
- The tightly contested rivalry matchup featured 10 lead changes and nine ties. Penn State built its largest advantage of seven points (35-28) with 5:15 remaining in the first half, while Pitt's largest lead was eight.
- Penn State received 21 points from its bench, highlighted by nine apiece from Brant Byers and François Wibaut, along with three from Jay Rodgers.
UP NEXT
Penn State will return home to the Bryce Jordan Center to take on Mercyhurst on Thursday, November 12. The game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. (ET) tipoff and will be streamed on B1G+.
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