Penn St. Nittany Lions vs Purdue Boilermakers Match Player Stats On Jan 17, 2021

Sasha Stefanovic scored 15 points and Trevion Williams had 13 points and 11 rebounds as Purdue pushed its winning streak to three games Sunday with a 80-72 victory against Penn State at West Lafayette, Ind.

Purdue (10-5, 4-3 Big Ten) scored the first 10 points of the second half to build a cushion against the skidding Nittany Lions, who lost their fourth consecutive game.

Penn State (3-5, 0-4) trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half but trimmed the deficit to 73-67 with 42 seconds to go. It closed to within four at 76-72 on a 3-pointer by Myreon Jones with 17 seconds left before the Boilermakers closed out the game from the foul line.

Jones led all scorers with 23 points, including five 3-pointers for the Nittany Lions.

John Harrar posted a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Izaiah Brockington chipped in 12 points for Penn State, which was playing for the first time since Dec. 30 after enduring four straight COVID-19 related postponements.

Eric Hunter Jr. (14 points), Brandon Newman (13) and Mason Gillis (12) also finished in double figures for Purdue, which shot 40.3 percent from the field. Williams, who played just 19 minutes while battling foul trouble, has scored at least 10 points in 10 consecutive games.

Playing the first of four games in a seven-day span, Penn State struggled from the field shooting to 32.9 percent, including 27.7 percent in the second half. The Nittany Lions edged the Boilermakers in rebounds 49-47 and were able stay close behind 23 offensive rebounds and 29 second-chance points.

Abysmal outside shooting plagued both teams in the first half. Purdue took a 33-32 lead into halftime despite just 2-of-19 (10.5 percent) accuracy from 3-point range. Penn State was only slightly better, going 3-for-13 (23.1 percent) from deep.

Jones led all scorers with nine first-half points, followed by Brockington with eight. Edey, Newman and Williams had six apiece for the Boilermakers.

Purdue improved to 40-13 against Penn State in the all-time series, including a 22-3 edge at Mackey Arena. The Boilermakers have won 11 of their past 12 home games against the Nittany Lions.

--Field Level Media