Penn State made 13 3-point field goals, with eight of those coming in the game’s second half, to help lead the host Nittany Lions to a 97-67 victory over Canisius Sunday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College, Pa.
The win, Penn State’s second-straight, moves Nittany Lions to 8-3 on the season, while the Golden Griffins slipped to 2-8 on the year with their sixth-straight defeat.
Four Canisius players scored in double-figures in the loss, led by graduate student Jordan Henderson and his team-high 14 points. Senior Jacco Fritz came off the bench to score 13 points while collecting eight rebounds and a career-high seven assists. Graduate student Jamir Moultrie had 11 points and redshirt-freshman Tahj Staveskie chipped in 10 for the Blue and Gold, which shot 39.3 percent from the field, 31.8 percent (7-for-22) from 3-point land and 75.0 percent from the free-throw line.
Four Penn State players posted 10-or more points in the scoring column, led by guard Jalen Pickett, who had a game-high 16 points to go along with nine assists, three rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot. Fellow guard Andrew Funk added 15 points after he hit 5-of-6 from 3-point land, while Seth Lundy and Kanye Clary chipped in 10 points, apiece. The Nittany Lions shot 58.0 percent from the field, which included a 59.1 percent (13-for-22) clip from behind the 3-point arc. In the second half, Penn State shot 61.5 percent (8-for-13) from 3-point range, with Funk draining five of the Nittany Lions’ eight second-half treys.
Canisius came out of the gate strong and led Penn State by as many as nine points midway through the first half after Moultrie scored on a driving lay-up to put the Blue and Gold up 20-11. Four-straight points from Pickett helped rally Penn State, and the home team took a 42-36 lead into the locker room at halftime as the Nittany Lions outscored Canisius 31-16 in the final 12:17 of the opening stanza. Penn State pulled away from good in the opening moments of the second half, as Penn State scored the first nine points out of intermission to take a 51-36 advantage with 17:04 left to play.
HEAD COACH REGGIE WITHERSPOON’S POSTGAME COMMENTS
“We came in looking to limit the number of threes [Penn State] attempted, and they ended up making 3 of them. When they’re hitting from three like that, they are really hard to guard. They also had 22 assists and just three turnovers. I’m not sure the last time I’ve seen a stat line like that in a college game. We just simply ran out of gas, especially in the second half.”
“I liked the fight we showed in the first half. I thought we played hard and we took care of the basketball. In the second half, to their credit, [Penn State] came out ready to go. We stressed all week that we were playing a Big Ten team. The screens they set are going to be physical. When they hit our screens, they we not planning on slowing down. When they went to block out, we needed to be ready to get hit a little bit harder than we’re used to. All of those things add up. And they took a toll on us today. Hopefully, we can learn from this experience as we continue to work on staying composed and playing hard each and every possession.”
GAME NOTES
• Sunday was the fourth meeting between Canisius and Penn State, with three of those games being played in Penn State’s building. The Nittany Lions are 4-0 versus Canisius, all-time.
• The Griffs out-rebounded Penn State 38-34, the third-straight game where the Blue and Gold out-rebounded their opponent.
• Sunday marked the third-straight game where Jacco Fritz has scored in double-figures. In that stretch, he’s averaging 11.7 points per game.
• Fritz’s seven assists were two more than his previous career-high, which he had set on six different occasions.
• Henderson’s 3-point field goal with 12:05 left in the game is the 160th 3-point make in his career. Henderson now ranks seventh all-time in program history with those 160 career treys.
UP NEXT
Canisius will close out its seven-game road swing on Wednesday, Dec. 21, when the Griffs travel south to play at Florida Gulf Coast. Game time is set for 7 p.m., in Fort Myers, Fla., and the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+. The radio call can be heard exclusively on GoGriffs.com.
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