Penn St. Nittany Lions vs Massachusetts Minutemen Match Player Stats On Nov 15, 2021

Penn State transfer Trent Buttrick scored a career-high 19 points to lead Massachusetts to an 81-56 victory over the Nittany Lions on Monday evening in Amherst, Mass.

After spending the previous four seasons at Penn State, Buttrick joined the Minutemen as a graduate transfer in April. He never scored more than 13 points in a game for the Nittany Lions, but he now is averaging 15.3 points in his first three games for the Minutemen.

C.J. Kelly and Rich Kelly each scored 17 points for UMass (2-1), which was coming off a 20-point loss to Yale. Buttrick added nine rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks to round out his splendid performance.

Seth Lundy scored 14 points and Sam Sessoms pitched in 12 to lead Penn State (1-1), which struggled with its shooting from the field (37.3 percent) and the 3-point line (4 of 15). The Nittany Lions' 15 turnovers didn't help matters.

UMass, meanwhile, shot 48.1 percent from the floor and a crisp 13 of 29 (44.8 percent) from long distance. Rich Kelly made four 3-pointers, while C.J. Kelly and Buttrick knocked down three apiece.

The teams were close for most of the first half before UMass used a late 8-0 run to open a 37-28 advantage. Dibaji Walker made back-to-back 3-pointers during the surge.

Penn State scored the final five points of the half to get within a four-point deficit at the break, but the Minutemen quickly took command early in the second half. They opened the stanza on a 13-2 run that featured two 3-pointers and a pair of foul shots by Buttrick.

Lundy answered with a layup, but Buttrick converted a three-point play on the next possession. Rich Kelly's 3-pointer and Buttrick's free throw pushed the lead to 20 points, and the hosts cruised from there.

--Field Level Media