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AMHERST, Mass. -- The Penn State men's basketball team got blitzed in the second half Monday night en route to an 81-56 loss at Massachusetts in collegiate basketball action at the Mullins Center.
Penn State, which came into the game off a season-opening win at home against Younstown State, fell to 1-1. The Minutemen are 2-1 after a win over Maryland-Baltimore County and a loss to Yale.
Junior Seth Lundy led Penn State for the second-straight game, finishing with 14 points. Senior Sam Sessoms added 12 points while John Harrar recorded a game-high 12 boards.
UMass was led by a familiar face to Penn State fans -- Trent Buttrick, a 6-foot-8 forward who played for former coach Patrick Chambers. Buttrick transfered at the end of last season. He finished with a career-high 19 points. He came into the game averaging 13.5 ppg in the first two contests for UMass. He also added nine rebounds.
The Minutemen also got 17 points each from Rich Kelly and C.J. Kelly, 13 from Noah Fernandes and 10 points from Diboj Walker. UMass really hurt the Nittany Lions from behind the arc, nailing 13 of 29 from 3-point land. Penn State was not quite as effective, going just 4-of-15 from long distance.
After an opening 3-pointer by Lundy, Penn State struggled to get shots down through the first five minutes of the game, going 2-of-8 from the field to trail 10-5 at the first media timeout.
The Nittany Lion defense then held the Minutemen to just one field goal in the next three minutes as they would go on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 12-12 at the under-12 timeout.
The final three minutes of the half finished with an 8-0 run by UMass, and then a 5-0 run by Penn State to get coach Micah Shrewsberry club within four, 37-33, at the break. That was as close as it woud get.
The Nittany Lions scored 11 points from the free throw line and had 12 second-chance points, thanks to seven offensive boards in the first 20 minutes. However, UMass started the second half on a 20-4 run to take a double-digit lead that would remain for the rest of the game.
Game notes
n Myles Dread surpassed the 700 career points mark on a 3-pointer in the second half. He now sits at 702 career points.
n Jaheam Cornwall made his first start as a Nittany Lion after playing off the bench in the season opener against Youngstown State.
n Caleb Dorsey made his season debut off the bench, playing the final 5:30 of the game.
Penn State returns to the Jordan Center to host St. Francis Brooklyn on Thursday as part of the Emerald Coast Classic series. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and will stream live on B1G+.
PENN STATE (1-0): Harrar 3-8 2-4 8, Lundy 4-7 4-4 14, Cornwall 1-4 2-2 4, Pickett 2-9 3-3 7, Sessoms 4-8 3-4 12, Dread 1-5 0-1 3, White 3-6 0-0 6, Johnson 1-4 0-0 2, Dorsey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-51 14-18 56.
UMASS (2-1): Buttrick 4-12 8-9 19, Dominguez 2-3 0-0 5, Fernandes 5-8 3-3 13, R.Kelly 6-10 1-2 17, Weeks 0-4 0-0 0, C.Kelly 5-9 4-6 17, Walker 4-6 0-3 10, Mitchell 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-54 16-23 81.
Halftime--UMass 37-33. 3-Point Goals--Penn St. 4-16 (Lundy 2-5, Sessoms 1-1, Dread 1-4, Cornwall 0-2, Johnson 0-2, Pickett 0-2), UMass 13-29 (R.Kelly 4-7, C.Kelly 3-5, Buttrick 3-8, Walker 2-3, Dominguez 1-2, Fernandes 0-2, Weeks 0-2). Rebounds--Penn St. 33 (Harrar 12), UMass 26 (Buttrick 9). Assists--Penn St. 11 (Pickett 7), UMass 14 (Buttrick 6). Total Fouls--Penn St. 19, UMass 18.