The Nittany Lions rattled off five consecutive wins in the semifinals, scoring bonus points in two of them, and benefitted from a 2-4 performance by the Buckeyes to take a 120.5-109.5 lead in a two-horse team race after two days.
"I THON because I recognize that I have been given one chance at life, and in this one life, I cannot imagine my time being spent any other way besides the opportunity to make an impact in the life of a child, sibling, and family."
The sophomore guard has a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 18 with Magisterial District Judge Carmine Prestia Jr.
The Fighting Irish do two things very well: spread shooters around their star player and avoid committing fouls. Notre Dame's the best in the country with fouls, averaging just more than 12 fouls per game.
Zain Retherford, Jason Nolf, Vincenzo Joseph, Mark Hall, and Bo Nickal all advanced to the semifinals with wins, while Shakur Rasheed and Nick Nevills each lost leads off of reversals during the third period.
"When we bought the team, everyone kept saying, 'Why Buffalo?'" Pegula said. "We were like, 'Why not Buffalo?...That's the team that we love.'"