It had been three weeks and a day since Penn State last played a men’s basketball game.
Three scheduled games were postponed due to COVID-19 related issues. Tonight, however, the Nittany Lions finally got to play, and they started 2022 in grand fashion with a 61-58 win over Indiana.
Penn State (5-5, 1-2) took a 27-26 lead into halftime. Jalen Pickett (eight) and Seth Lundy (six) combined for more than half of Penn State’s offense. Pickett ended up leading the Lions with 15 points. Myles Dread (12) and Sam Sessoms (10) him in double figures. Dread went 4-5 from beyond the arc.
In the second half, the Nittany Lions, spurred by a 13-2 run, led by as many as eight, but any Indiana kept pace and went into its final possession down by three. The Hoosiers (10-3, 1-2) got two shots off in that last possession, but three point attempts by Rob Phinisee and Trayce Jackson-Davis fell short, sealing the Penn State’s first Big Ten win of the Micah Shrewsberry era.
Both Lundy and John Harrar had double-digit rebounds, with Lundy having 10 and Harrar 12. For Indiana, Jackson-Davis was the only player in double figures with 20.
Penn State’s next game is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 5 at Northwestern.
