Myreon Jones scored 17 points to lead Penn State to an 84-65 win over Minnesota in Big Ten action Wednesday in University Park, Pa.
Izaiah Brockington scored 14 points, Trent Buttrick had 13 points, John Harrar added 12 and Jamari Wheeler had 10 for Penn State (9-13, 6-12 Big Ten), which snapped a three-game home losing streak.
Marcus Carr led all scorers with 22 points and Tre' Williams added 17 points for Minnesota (13-13, 6-13), which lost its sixth straight game. Isaiah Ihnen contributed 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the Golden Gophers.
Penn State shot 40 percent from 3-point range (10 of 25) and outrebounded Minnesota 48-33.
The Golden Gophers shot just 27.8 percent from long distance (5 of 18) and 35.6 percent overall (21 of 59).
Penn State jumped out to an early 18-10 lead before Minnesota went on a 10-3 run to cut the deficit to one with 5:58 remaining in the first half.
The Nittany Lions scored nine straight points in a span of 1:51 to take a 37-26 lead with 1:26 left until halftime.
Penn State continued its roll, taking a 46-28 lead at halftime after a Myles Dread 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
The Nittany Lions continued their momentum in the second half, starting the period with an 8-2 run to take a 14-point lead with 17:16 remaining in the game.
Penn State kept its lead to at least 20 points until Minnesota started to chip away at its deficit, getting within 63-45 with 10:49 left on an Eric Curry layup.
Minnesota then closed within 72-59 with 5:23 remaining after a basket by Jamal Mashburn Jr.
The Golden Gophers cut the deficit to 74-63 with 3:51 left, but Penn State finished Minnesota off by going on a 10-0 run to take an 18-point lead with 1:15 remaining.
--Field Level Media
Minnesota | Penn St. | |
Marcus Carr 22 | Scoring | Myreon Jones 17 |
Marcus Carr 4 | Assists | Sam Sessoms 5 |
Isaiah Ihnen 10 | Rebounds | John Harrar 11 |
Marcus Carr 13 | Free Throws Made | Izaiah Brockington 4 |
Marcus Carr 2 | Steals | Trent Buttrick 1 |
Eric Curry 2 | Blocks | Trent Buttrick 2 |