Senior center Mike Watkins matched a career high with 19 points and freshman forward Seth Lundy added a career-high 18 points, lifting No. 13 Penn State to an 88-76 win at Purdue on Tuesday night.
Penn State (19-5, 9-4 Big Ten) won its seventh straight with a hot-shooting night, shooting 53.8 percent from 3-point range. The 14 3-pointers for the Nittany Lions were one shy of a school record.
Senior forward Lamar Stevens overcame first-half foul trouble to finish with 16 points and five assists for Penn State, while forward John Harrar scored 13 points. Penn State stretched its lead to as many as 24 points in the second half before holding off a late Purdue charge.
Sophomore forward Trevion Williams led Purdue (14-11, 7-7) with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The Boilermakers had their three-game win streak snapped and dropped to 10-3 on the season at Mackey Arena.
Penn State played without sophomore guard Myreon Jones, who sat out his second straight game with an illness. Other shooters from Penn State stepped up in the absence of Jones, who has a team-high 52 3-pointers and is shooting 41.3 percent from 3-point range on the season.
The Nittany Lions went 10 of 19 from 3-point range in the first half, building a 42-30 halftime lead. Lundy made four 3-pointers, scoring 12 points in the first half. Penn State needed the hot shooting with Stevens in foul trouble as he sat the final nine minutes of the first half with two fouls.
Penn State jumped to an early 27-16 lead, but Purdue rallied back, cutting Penn State's lead 33-28 on a tip in from Williams.
But Penn State closed the half on a 9-0 run, which included a three-point play from Watkins and back-to-back 3-pointers from guards Myles Dread and Izaiah Brockington to extend its lead to 42-30 at the half.
--Field Level Media
Penn St. | Purdue | |
Mike Watkins 19 | Scoring | Trevion Williams 17 |
Myles Dread 5 | Assists | Jahaad Proctor 4 |
Mike Watkins 10 | Rebounds | Trevion Williams 10 |
Lamar Stevens 9 | Free Throws Made | Isaiah Thompson 8 |
Izaiah Brockington 1 | Steals | Jahaad Proctor 2 |
Izaiah Brockington 1 | Blocks | Matt Haarms 2 |