Penn State Pulls Away from Bison in Second Half, 98-70

Tuesday, November 19

University Park, Pa.

6:30 p.m.

Bucknell University

2-3,0-0Patriot

Penn State

4-0,0-0Big Ten

Bucknell

Penn St.

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

Penn State Pulls Away from Bison in Second Half, 98-70

11/19/2019 8:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Lamar Stevens scored 21 of his game-high 27 points in Penn State's big second half, as the Nittany Lions pulled away for a 98-70 victory over Bucknell on Tuesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center. Andrew Funk led four Bison in double figures with 15 points, but Penn State broke open a three-point game at the half with a couple of big runs after the break.

The Bison fell to 2-3 on the season heading into a date with Syracuse on Saturday, while the Nittany Lions stayed unbeaten at 4-0.

Funk hit 7 of 12 shots from the field on the way to his 15 points. Bruce Moore added 14 points, Jimmy Sotos had 10 points and six assists, and Paul Newman just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Stevens' own personal 8-0 run to start the second half sparked his big night, helping Penn State outscore Bucknell 53-28 over the final 20 minutes. Mike Watkins followed with 18 points, Myles Dread had 12 and Jamari Wheeler 10 for the Nittany Lions, who attacked the basket aggressively all night. Penn State shot 60 percent overall despite a 5-for-16 showing from 3-point range. The hosts logged 58 points in the paint, 25 fastbreak points, and outscored Bucknell 15-3 from the free-throw line.

"Give a lot of credit to Coach Chambers and Penn State, I've been following their program for a number of years and I think this might be the best team he's had in his time here," said head coach Nathan Davis. "I thought we fought hard and gave it everything we had. We are not anywhere near where we want to be, and I'm sure Penn State doesn't feel like they are either. They came out with laser-like focus at the start of the second half and we didn't respond as well."

Bucknell trailed 45-42 after a fast-paced first half, but Penn State shot out of the gates in the second half with an 8-0 run in just 1:29, all coming from Stevens. Newman scored twice in the paint, the latter a 3-point play, and the Bison closed within 54-49 on a Funk layup. But a 17-2 run for the Nittany Lions over the next 3:17 put the game out of reach. Izaiah Brockington's layup at the 13:00 minute mark gave Penn State a 20-point lead at 71-51.

A John Meeks 3-pointer cut it to 80-66 with 8:35 to go, but another 11-0 ended any hopes of a Bison comeback.

Bucknell led 8-7 early after a Moore layup, but the Bison missed their next six shots in what turned into a 4:56 scoring drought. Penn State scored 11 straight to go up 18-8 before Walter Ellis ended the run with a 3-pointer.

Trailing by 11 later in the half, the Bison got a huge lift off the bench from Ben Robertson, who scored seven quick points on two hard drives to the basket and a press-beating 3-pointer from the right wing. His reverse layup pulled Bucknell within 31-27 and forced a Penn State timeout with 5:56 to go in the half.

Moore and Funk combined to score Bucknell's final 15 points of the half – eight from Funk and seven from Moore – over the final 5:04. Funk hit an array of pull-up jumpers, and Moore's 3-pointer with 0:40 left pulled the Bison within 43-42.

Curtis Jones Jr. banked in a tough floater in traffic to close the first-half scoring with the Nittany Lions on top 45-42.

Bucknell shot 43 percent on the night. After hitting 15 3-pointers in each of their last two games, the Bison were held to seven in this one in 27 attempts.

The game was a campus-site game as part of the NIT Season Tip-Off, and Bucknell will have another one coming up on Saturday at Syracuse. It's a noon start from the Dome, with television coverage on the ACC Network.

Gallery: (11/19/2019) Men's Basketball at Penn State