Dec 22, 2022 3 min read

Jalen Pickett finished an assist shy of a triple-double and Penn State defeated Quinnipiac 77-68 Thursday.

Moving the game time up by four hours because of weather didn’t affect Pickett, who is the only player in the country averaging 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. He scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to go with nine assists in his bid for his second triple-double of the season. Pickett also had a steal and no turnovers.

Andrew Funk added 16 points for the Nittany Lions (9-3). Camren Wynter had 12 points and nine rebounds and Michael Henn had 11 off the bench on 4-of-5 shooting.

Penn State was without Seth Lundy, who was injured in Sunday’s win over Canisius and was on crutches.

Tyrese Williams scored 16 points for the Bobcats (9-4), who were playing Penn State for the first time. Ike Nweke and Tymu Chenery both added 12 and Paul Otieno had 10 rebounds.

Nweke made the first two Quinnipiac baskets of the game, including a 3-pointer, but that was the only time the Nittany Lions trailed. Pickett capped a 9-0 run with a jumper for an 11-5 lead. Over the last five minutes of the first half Penn State had a 13-3 run to lead 33-23 at the break.

The Bobcats went 3 of 14 behind the arc and 4 of 22 inside in the first 20 minutes. Penn State was 12 of 36, 2 of 16 from distance.

Dezi Jones hit a 3 for Quinnipiac to start the second half but Penn State scored the next six and the lead stayed in double figures until the last 43 seconds. The Bobcats made 9 of 17 3s after the break and shot 43% but Penn State shot 50% from the field.

WVU 75, Stony Brook 64: Kedrian Johnson scored 18 points and West Virginia turned back persistent Stony Brook, 75-64.

The Mountaineers (10-2) only led 28-24 at the half and after building a 19-point lead in the second half the Seawolves (4-9) got within nine with more than 2 ½ minutes to go.

Erik Stevenson added 16 points for West Virginia and Joe Toussaint had 12. Seth Wilson was 3-for-3 shooting from 3-point range in the second half, including a clutch basket to blunt the last Stony Brook rally.

West Virginia forward Emmitt Matthews, averaging 10.8 points per game, missed his second straight game with a left knee injury. He is listed as day to day.

Tyler Stephenson-Moore scored 16 points to pace the Seawolves. Kenan Sarvan added 13, Toby Onyekonwu had 11 and Tanahj Pettway 10. Frankie Policelli grabbed 14 rebounds.

West Virginia, which shot at least 50% in its last three games, was 3 of 12 behind the arc and shot 34.5% overall in the first half. Johnson was the only Mountaineer with much success, scoring 12 points.

Stony Brook got within 33-32 on a Policelli 3-pointer 2 ½ minutes into the second half but Tre Mitchell and Stevenson had back-to-back 3’s to close an 8-0 run immediately after that. That’s when the Seawolves started cooling off and the Mountaineers heated up.

Toussaint had a 3-pointer and Wilson hit consecutive 3s in a 15-2 run that broke it open. Wilson’s second triple made it 60-41.

Stony Brook made a last push, scoring seven straight and then Keenan Fitzmorris hit a jumper to cut it to 66-57 with 2 1/2 minutes to go. Wilson hit another 3 and that restored the double-figure lead down the stretch.