Penn State men’s basketball (6-1, 0-0 Big Ten) held off Boston University (3-4, 0-0 Patriot League) 96-87 at the Bryce Jordan Center on Tuesday night.

After suffering their first loss of the season last week against Providence, the Nittany Lions came out firing in the first half as they dominated the Terriers in the three-point and free-throw line, allowing them to take a 16-point lead into halftime.

In the second half, Penn State continued to dominate, but Boston University slowly started to creep its way back into the game with a barrage of three-pointers. However, their deficit from the first half proved to be too much, and the Nittany Lions survived the Terriers’ comeback bid to win 96-87.

How It Happened

Despite last week’s loss, Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades went with the same starting five of Kayden Mingo, Melih Tunca, Eli Rice, Josh Reed, and Ivan Jurić.

After a minute and a half had gone by in the first half with no scoring, Mingo scored the first bucket of the game. Boston University got on the board with a three-pointer by Michael McNair before a two-pointer by Ben Defty gave the Terriers a 5-2 lead. The Nittany Lions tied at five on the next possession with Rice’s three-pointer.

Ben Roy’s layup gave Boston University the lead. After that, Penn State went on a 5-0 run to take a three-point lead. This forced the Terriers to take a 30-second timeout. After the timeout, Mingo extended the run to seven with a layup. Both teams exchanged three-point buckets on ensuing possessions.

Tibor Mirtic hit a layup that gave Penn State a 17-10 lead. After Sam Hughes’ three-pointer trimmed the Terriers’ deficit to four, the Nittany Lions started to get aggressive and scored back-to-back two-pointers to extend their lead to eight heading into the media timeout.

Penn State continued to put its foot down on the gas after the timeout as it extended its run to nine with a three-pointer by Dominick Stewart and a mid-range jumper by Reed. This allowed it to take a 13-point lead with almost 10 minutes left in the first half. The run came to an end on the next possession on a layup by Azmar Abdullah.

Both teams traded buckets before Reed’s layup allowed the Nittany Lions to regain their 13-point lead. Hughes committed a shooting foul on Jurić. Jurić made the first foul shot but missed the second one. After Hughes missed a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, Penn State increased its lead to 16 on a Jurić layup.

After Roy’s layup decreased the Terriers’ deficit to 14, they could not keep up with the physicality of the Nittany Lions. On the next two Penn State possessions, it went to the free-throw line. It converted three of the four free throws to give it a 36-19 lead. Boston University responded with a three-pointer before Jurić’s layup restored Penn State’s 16-point lead.

The Terriers decreased their deficit to 11 on a 5-0 run. After both teams traded two-pointers, Tunca knocked down a three-pointer to give the Nittany Lions a 43-29 lead heading into the media timeout with almost three and a half minutes left in the first half.

Malcolm Chimezie scored the first bucket for Boston University after the media timeout. On the next possession, Freddie Dillone hit another three-pointer to extend Penn State’s lead to 17. After both teams exchanged baskets, the Terriers continued to struggle with the physicality of the Nittany Lions.

They committed two shooting fouls on Penn State’s next two possessions. Once again, Penn State converted three of the four free throws. Chimezie made the last basket of the half with a layup as the Nittany Lions went into halftime with a 51-35 lead.

Jurić committed a shooting foul on Defty to get the second half underway, and he converted both foul shots to give Boston University the first points of the half. Mingo missed a layup on the ensuing possession, but the Terriers committed a turnover that gave the Nittany Lions the ball back. This mistake came back to haunt them as Rice knocked down a three-pointer to give Penn State a 17-point lead.

Rice committed a shooting foul on McNair on the following possession, but he capitalized on only one of the free throws. On Penn State’s next possession, Tunca scored a tough layup and got fouled. He converted on the and-one. After the Terriers scored a layup, Mingo made a mid-range jumper and got fouled, but couldn’t convert the and-one.

Both teams missed three-pointers on the next two possessions before Jurić’s dunk gave the Nittany Lions a 21-point lead. After this dunk, a minute went by with no scoring before three consecutive three-pointers by Boston University trimmed its deficit to 12. On the next possession, Mingo responded with a huge three-pointer to cool off the Terriers’ momentum.

The Terriers decreased their deficit to 13 on the following possession. After Jurić committed a turnover, Mirtic fouled Hughes on the three-point line, sending him to the line for three free throws. He converted two of the three free throws. Chimezie committed a shooting foul on Jurić, but he was only able to score one of the free throws.

Hughes made a mid-range jumper on the following possession that allowed Boston University to decrease its deficit to 10. Reed scored a big two-pointer before the media timeout. After the media timeout, Penn State refused to let Boston University seize its momentum and responded with back-to-back two-pointers to take a 71-55 lead with 10 minutes left in the game.

McNair missed his layup but managed to get the offensive rebound, and this allowed him to redeem himself with a three-pointer. The Nittany Lions continued to dominate the free-throw game as Reed converted both foul shots after he was fouled. After McNair scored a layup, Reed was fouled again, and he capitalized on both free throws once again as Penn State held a 15-point lead.

However, the Terriers started to show signs of life and scored back-to-back three-pointers to cut their deficit to single digits. Before a media timeout occurred, Mingo was fouled by Abdullah, sending him to the line for two free throws. After the media timeout, he only converted one of the foul shots.

During Boston University’s possession, Stewart stole the ball from Donte Tisinger, which led to a fast break. Penn State converted on the fast break with Stewart’s tough layup and he was fouled. He converted the and-one to give the Nittany Lions a 13-point lead. The Terriers cut their deficit to 10 on the ensuing possession.

However, Boston University continued to struggle to match the physicality of Penn State. For the next minute and a half, the Terriers sent the Nittany Lions three times for six free throws as they struggled to score on their possessions as well. The Nittany Lions scored four of the six free throws to extend their lead to 14 with five minutes left.

McNair knocked down a three-pointer on the following possession to get Boston University within 11 before the media timeout. Out of the media timeout, the Terriers committed another shooting foul as Tunca went to the line. He capitalized on both free throws. After almost a minute of no scoring, Tunca was fouled again. However, this time he only converted one of the free throws.

Both teams exchanged the next four buckets before Mingo committed a personal foul on Chance Gladden, sending him to the line for two free throws. He knocked down both foul shots before Mingo’s layup restored Penn State’s 14-point lead with a minute and a half left. On the next possession, McNair scored a three-pointer to decrease the Terriers’ deficit to 11.

With a minute left, Mingo was fouled, sending him to the line for two free throws. He only scored one of the free throws, and on the ensuing possession, Roy knocked down a three-pointer that got Boston University within single digits.

The Terriers started to play the foul game and fouled Rice on the following possession. The free-throw struggles continued as Rice converted one of the free throws. Boston University responded with another three-pointer to cut its deficit to seven with 30 seconds left.

On the next possession, Tunca was fouled, and he converted both free throws. Hughes missed the three-pointer, and Mingo grabbed the defensive rebound. He ran out the clock, and Penn State held on to a 96-87 victory over Boston University.

Takeaways

• Penn State continues to dominate its non-conference opponents at home. It has won 13 consecutive games against non-conference opponents at home, and this was a good rebound win after it suffered its first loss last week.
• Boston University struggled to keep Penn State off the free-throw line in this game. Penn State had 40 free throws compared to Boston University’s 13. This played a huge factor as Penn State converted 28 free throws compared to Boston University’s nine. Despite the free-throw disparity, the struggles from the free-throw line continued for the Nittany Lions.
• Due to the free-throw disparity, the Terriers tried to claw back into the game with a barrage of three-pointers, and it almost worked. They had 34 three-point attempts and had a 47% three-point percentage.
• Josh Reed continues to play well for the Nittany Lions. He led the team in scoring with 17 points and was very efficient. He was 83% in field goal percentage and was perfect from the free-throw line.

What’s Next?

Penn State will stay home as it will play its final game of November against Sacred Heart on Saturday, November 29, at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed on Peacock.