Tonight, the Penn State men’s basketball team kicked-off their 2026-2027 season at home against Canisius.
Both teams started out trying to find their rhythm, but then Brant Byers found his and knocked in five straight points to put the Nittany Lions up 5-0.
Roko Prkacin made his presence known coming off the bench and scored four quick points with one blocked shot.
At the first media timeout (15:35) it was PSU over the Golden Griffens 11-2.
The Nittany Lions kept the pressure on and with 11:26 left in the first half, it was PSU over Canisius 19-8. Prkacin was leading all scorers with six points and Byers had five.
The Blue & White were imposing their will around the basket and after a drive to the hoop and an and-one by Dasonte Bowen the score was PSU 25, Canisius 12 with 8:33 left until halftime.
Being led by Croatian, Prkacin, the Nittany Lions were up 30-14 with 6:25 in the first half. Prkacin had 11 points on 4-5 shooting.
Nine Nittany Lions were in the scoring column with 4:23 left until halftime and it was PSU over the Golden Griffins 38-19.
Penn State was shooting 52% from the field to Canisius’ 31%.
With 2:00 until half, PSU was up 41-22.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.At The Half:Â Penn State 47 Canisius 26
Prkacin had 12 points off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting and grabbed 4 rebounds. Francois Wibaut had seven points and Ivan Juric six.
To start the second half, Penn State picked up where they left off by Byers drilling another three and Prkacin with nifty makes around the rim.
At the 15:22 mark it was the Nittany Lions over the Golden Griffins 58-33. Prkacin had 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting adding four rebounds.
Penn State was shooting 58% from the field (28-48) and with 11:24 to play it was the Blue & White over the Golden Griffins by a score of 70-35.
By the 8:16 mark of the second half, the Nittany Lions had three players in double figures in scoring with Prkacin at 24, Juric 12 and Wibaut 10.
Penn State kept attacking and was shooting 55% from the field.
With 5:00 to play it was the Nittany Lions over Canisius 85-49.
The new-look Nittany Lions went on to win their season opener by the score of 97-57.
