Penn St. Nittany Lions vs DePaul Blue Demons Match Player Stats On Nov 15, 2018

After squandering a 10-point lead in the final four minutes of regulation, DePaul rallied to earn a 72-70 overtime victory in Gavitt Tipoff Games action on Thursday night in Chicago.

Senior forward Max Strus scored 15 of his 21 points after the break and sophomore point guard Devin Gage added a career-high 14 points for DePaul, which secured its first 3-0 start in a decade.

Junior forward Lamar Stevens produced 25 points and 12 rebounds for Penn State (2-1), which saw its national-best seven-game win streak come to an end. Freshman guard Myles Dread added 19 points that included five 3-pointers, but he airballed an open 17-footer to tie with three seconds left in overtime.

Penn State bolted out to an 11-0 lead in the first three minutes at Wintrust Arena, as DePaul committed five turnovers and the Nittany Lions capitalized with two 3-pointers and a 3-point play.

DePaul coach Dave Leitao called a timeout to halt the assault and the Blue Demons committed just two miscues the rest of the half. DePaul pulled even, 19-19, on sophomore center Paul Reed's layup with 10:15 left in the half.

Penn State rebuilt several small margins, but Gage kept attacking the rim and graduate transfer center Femi Olujobi (13 points) kept scoring in the post. They combined for 22 first-half points as the Blue Demons took a 36-31 lead into the locker room, despite getting just 6 points from Strus and none from senior guard Eli Cain.

Strus took over after the break as DePaul shrugged off most of Penn State's attempts to regain command. Senior guard Josh Reaves (13 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds) canned a 3-pointer with 16:31 left to give the Nittany Lions a 41-40 edge, but Strus answered with a 3-pointer of his own.

When Dread sank a 3-pointer with 12:26 left to give the Nittany Lions a 50-49 edge, Strus answered with another 3-pointer. Not long after, Cain and Strus hooked up for the play of the night.

Standing outside the 3-point arc, Cain sent an alley-oop to Strus and he threw it down with two hands while getting fouled. When Strus added the free throw, DePaul owned a 63-53 lead with 9:26 left and Strus moved to 14 points for the half and 20 for the game. He wouldn't score again in regulation.

When sophomore Jaylen Butz (8 points, career-high 15 rebounds) sank two free throws with 3:41 left, DePaul owned a 68-58 lead.

Penn State turned up the pressure and reeled off a 10-0 run capped by Stevens' free throw with 26 seconds left that knotted it 68-68.

DePaul called its final timeout with 19.6 seconds left to set up the last shot, but never got the chance. Freshman guard Rasir Bolton pickpocketed Cain and headed the other way, but his off-balance layup at the buzzer didn't fall and the teams went to overtime.

Cain drained a 19-foot jumper on DePaul's first overtime possession to halt a 4:21 scoreless streak - and it turned out to be the only basket of overtime.

Penn State inbounded the ball with five seconds left with a chance to tie or win. Dread delivered a textbook head fake along the 3-point arc, then took one dribble to step in for an unguarded 17-footer - but his shot fell short and the Nittany Lions couldn't control the rebound for a follow-up.

--Field Level Media