AMHERST, Mass. – The Penn State men's basketball team (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten) fell to the UMass Minutemen (2-1, 0-0 Atlantic 10), 81-56, Monday evening at the Mullins Center in the first road test of the 2021-22 campaign presented by Highmark Health.
Junior Seth Lundy led the team in scoring for the second-straight game, finishing with 14 points. Senior Sam Sessoms added 12 points while graduate student John Harrar recorded a game-high 12 boards.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After an opening 3-pointer by Seth Lundy, Penn State struggled to get shots down through the first nearly five minutes, going 2-of-8 from the field to trail 10-5 at the first media timeout.
- The Nittany Lion defense then held the Minutemen to just one field goal in the next three minutes as they would go on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 12-12 at the under-12 timeout.
- The final three minutes of the half would finish with an 8-0 run by UMass and then a 5-0 run by Penn State after a 30-second half to get within four, 37-33, at the break. The Nittany Lions scored 11 points from the free throw line and had 12 second-chance points thanks to seven offensive boards in the first 20 minutes.
- UMass started the second half on a 20-4 run to take a double-digit lead that would remain for the rest of the game.
GAME NOTES
- Myles Dread surpassed the 700 career points mark on a 3-pointer in the second half as he now sits at 702 career points.
- Jaheam Cornwall made his first start as a Nittany Lion after playing off the bench in the season opener against Youngstown State.
- Caleb Dorsey made his season debut off the bench, playing the final five and a half minutes.
UP NEXT
Penn State returns to the Bryce Jordan Center to host St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday, Nov. 18 as part of the Emerald Coast Classic series. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and will stream live on B1G+.
The 2021-22 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.