Penn State men’s basketball (2-0) easily handled Loyola Maryland (0-2) 90-65 Thursday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Four Nittany Lions reached double figures tonight, with Camren Wynter leading the way with 18 points and four boards. Myles Dread and Kebba Njie followed suit with a dozen points apiece, followed by Seth Lundy with 10. Penn State also continued its impressive three-point shooting after an efficient 16-for-30 night from beyond the arc.

How It Happened

Head coach Micah Shrewsberry rode with the same starting five that brought him much success in the season opener against Winthrop.

The first 5⃣ #WeAre pic.twitter.com/f0YpBXpWxL

— Penn State Men’s Basketball (@PennStateMBB) November 10, 2022

Loyola Maryland won the tip, but a Wynter three got the scoring started after he swished one at the top of the arc. Jalen Pickett ran a fast break which started with a spin move and ended with a corner splash from Andrew Funk and Penn State jumped out to an 8-2 lead four minutes in.

Back-to-back threes from Seth Lundy and Dallion Johnson propelled the Nittany Lions to a double-digit lead, but that quickly fizzled out as the Greyhounds cut the deficit by five at the 11th-minute mark. Jaylin Andrews led the run, scoring seven straight points for Loyola Maryland, including the team’s first three on the night.

After a Pickett three from the right arc, Andrews and Golden Dike combined for six points that brought the game within two with just under nine minutes left of action. Then, Dread ended a nearly four-minute drought for the Nittany Lions as he cashed in from downtown and brought the Nittany Lions back to a two-possession lead.

After a media timeout with seven minutes left in the first half, Penn State jumped out to an 8-4 run highlighted by threes from Wynter and Dread, followed by an ankle-breaker from Pickett which ended on a forced foul on Chris Kuzemka. That foul resulted in another Dread three-pointer that brought it back to a double-digit favor for Penn State.

Deon Perry sank a buzzer beater three to end the half. Penn State entered the locker room up 40-29 and shot an efficient 10-20 from downtown in the first half.

The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 13-5 run to start the second half including threes from Caleb Dorsey, Wynter, and Lundy. Kenneth Jones sank a three of his own that silenced the Bryce Jordan Center. However, that was followed by an and-one driving finish from Wynter that brought life right back into the crowd.

The Nittany Lions’ offense simmered down as they combined for just seven points in a five-minute span. The Greyhounds scored just two over the same time period, thanks to a Kuzemka layup, but remained down by 22.

Loyola Maryland outscored Penn State 8-2 following a timeout midway through the second half. Andrews led the run with six of those points as the Greyhounds crept back into it. However, freshman Kanye Clary checked into the game and immediately shut down the run as he notched his first three points in the blue and white.

Kenneth Jones, Andrews, and Kuzemka tried to crawl their team back into this game, but the spark of the freshman combo of Njie and Clary kept Penn State up by 18 as the game entered into the final four minutes.

Michael Henn joined in on the three-point party when he launched one from beyond the arc with just two minutes left of action. Evan Mahaffey entered the freshmen scoring club when he notched a driving layup just a possession later. His bucket would be the last as Penn State dribbled out the clock to take down Loyola Maryland 90-65.

Takeaways:

• There’s an old saying of living by the three or dying by the three. Penn State is currently LIVING. Tonight, the Nittany Lions continued their impressive shooting display as they shot 16-30 from beyond the arc, scoring 48 of their 90 points from threes alone
• Shrewsberry noted that each game will include different players stepping up and tonight was no different. After monster performances from Pickett and Funk on opening night, it was a collective effort from Wynter, Dread, and Njie who got it done tonight with 18, 12, and 12 points, respectively.
• Penn State is set to host Butler next week, and it will be a Shrewsberry reunion after he served as an assistant head coach for the university from 2008 to 2011. After two impressive outings, it’ll be interesting to see how the Nittany Lions fair against a program like Butler.

What’s Next?

Penn State will host Butler next Monday, November 14, at the Bryce Jordan Center. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. and will be broadcasted on FS1.