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Penn State Basketball

Andrew Funk Leads Penn State to Wire-to-Wire Win Over Nebraska 76-65

Penn State basketball Funk
Penn State Nittany Lions guard Andrew Funk (10) January 21, 2023 David Hague/NSN

Andrew Funk led all scorers with 23 points and five 3-pointers as the Penn State men’s basketball team led wire-to-wire and beat Nebraska 76-65 on Saturday at Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn State (13-6 overall, 4-4 Big Ten) started the game on a 10-0 run in the game’s first 2:16 minutes, however, Penn State missed the next seven shots as Nebraska went on an 8-0 run until Andrew Funk made a three-point shot to break the Nebraska (10-10 overall, 4-5 Big Ten) run. Penn State started to use its small lineup to switch it up on offense. The game turned into a slog with neither team scoring a field goal over the midway point in the first half.

Penn State and Nebraska continued to struggle offensively, and the pace favored Nebraska Penn State had a lot of open three-point shots but missing continued to Nebraska staying in the game. Penn State started to slowly establish themselves late in the first half as Penn State led 29-23 at halftime.

Andrew Funk had 16 points at halftime to lead all scorers. Neither team shot well in the first half, Penn State shot 34.8 percent from the floor, while Penn State shot 33.3 percent from the floor while Nebraska outrebounded Penn State 21-19 in the first half.

Penn State appeared to continue its concerning trend of slow second-half starts when Penn State scored two field goals in the first four minutes in the second half, but Funk hit a three-pointer to put Penn State up 36-33. Penn State was starting to establish its pace and tried to pull away, but Nebraska was doing enough to stay in the game and keep the game in striking distance. This is until that was until Penn state started to establish its electric offense as Jalen Pickett took over with a layup and a three-pointer. Keisei Tominaga kept Nebraska in the game with two three-pointers. The action began to slow down as both teams began to go cold as neither team established offense but both teams started to trade baskets that favored Penn State, but Nebraska continued to miss free throws. Nebraska cut the lead to seven, but they couldn’t cut the deficit any further.

Seth Lundy contributed 16 points for Penn State, and Jalen Pickett scored 12 points to go with 13 rebounds. Derrick Walker scored led Nebraska with 20 points, followed by Tominaga with 13 points and Sam Griesel with 11 points.

Penn State should keep its NCAA Tournament spot alive for now and will travel to Jersey Mike’s Arena to play Rutgers on Tuesday night, while Nebraska will host Northwestern on Tuesday night at the Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Twitter: @bwalkerdadon

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