Central Conn. St. Blue Devils vs Penn St. Nittany Lions Match Player Stats On Dec 20, 2019

Myreon Jones scored 21 points and No. 23 Penn State cruised past visiting Central Connecticut State for an 87-58 nonconference victory on Friday.

Izaiah Brockington added 11 and Lamar Stevens had 10 for the Nittany Lions, who played as a ranked team for the first time since 1996. They improved to 10-2 and won for the 12th consecutive time at home, dating to last season.

Fifth-year senior Mike Watkins also contributed eight points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots for Penn State.

Greg Outlaw led the winless Blue Devils with 14 points while Stephane Ayangma and Trey Tennyson added nine apiece.

Central Connecticut State has opened the season with 12 consecutive losses.

Penn State knocked down its first 11 shots and quickly jumped out to a 27-10 lead. The 11th field goal, an alley-oop dunk by Watkins, gave him 1,001 career points. Watkins became the 37th player in program history to reach at least 1,000 points.

Outlaw, a freshman, scored 12 of the Blue Devils' first 19 points but they trailed 38-19.

The Nittany Lions made 17 of their first 25 shots and held a 43-22 advantage in the first half.

Penn State eventually led 51-31 at halftime and scored the most points in a first half this season. Stevens threw down a two-handed dunk with 4.6 seconds left before the break to cap the scoring for the Nittany Lions. Central Connecticut State was hurt by 11 first half turnovers.

Jones converted a three-point play as Penn State kept attacking and moved ahead 58-34 less than four minutes into the second half. The Nittany Lions scored the next two baskets and another alley-oop dunk by Watkins, and a spectacular dunk by Stevens pushed the lead to 64-34.

The Blue Devils went through a seven-minute scoring drought and 12 straight misses before Myles Baker finally connected on a 3-pointer.

Myles Dread's deep 3-pointer, his third of the game, with 10:51 remaining extended Penn State's lead to 70-39. The Nittany Lions had little trouble closing out the victory from there.

--Field Level Media