Pickett carries Lions to win
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MINNEAPOLIS -- Jalen Pickett had 32 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, Camren Wynter added 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and five assists and Penn State beat Minnesota 76-69 Saturday night to extend the Golden Gophers' losing streak to nine games.
Pickett made 11 of 20 from the field, 4 of 8 from 3-point range and 6 of 7 from the free-throw line with just two turnovers. Andrew Funk added 11 points, including three 3-pointers, for Penn State (16-11, 7-9 Big Ten).
"To get out to a double-digit lead in the first half because of those threes, that really helped us," Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry said. "That confidence that we can make them anywhere and now we get to 10 threes. That's a good number for especially on the road."
Dawson Garcia scored seven points in a 13-1 run to open the second half that culminated when Pharrel Payne scored inside to give Minnesota a 48-46 lead with 13:56 to play.
Pickett hit a 3-pointer about 2:30 minutes later and then sandwiched two pairs of free throws around a dunk by Lundy, who then followed his own missed 3-point shot for a putback to cap a string of 11 consecutive points and give Penn State a nine-point lead with 8:26 remaining.
"He gets in there (gym) and works on his game every single day," Shrewsberry said of Pickett. "For a guy that plays a lot of minutes, for a guy that has a lot on his shoulders, he's continuing to get better. He's continuing to get better. We have a lot of guys that are doing good things but he's carrying us right now. He's putting us on his back and he's carrying this right now."
Minnesota worked its way back to within three points at 67-64 with 3:32 to go in the game but Pickett hit a layup to extend the lead to make it 69-64. With 1:20 to go in the game, nailed a three-pointer to put the Nittany Lions up 76-69.
Dawson Garcia returned from a five-game absence and led Minnesota (7-17, 1-13) with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting with seven rebounds. The 6-foot-11 transfer from North Carolina hadn't played since he suffered a bone bruise in his right foot in a loss at Michigan on Jan. 22.
Payne, a 6-9 freshman, scored all his career-best 18 points in the second half, grabbed 10 rebounds -- his second double-double of the season -- and had a season-high six assists for the Golden Gophers. At one point during the second half, Payne scored 13 straight points for his team.
Up next
Penn State hits the road to play Thursday at Ohio State
Minnesota plays the first of three consecutive road games Monday at Illinois
PENN ST. (16-11): Njie 1-2 0-0 2, Funk 4-8 0-0 11, Pickett 11-20 6-7 32, Wynter 5-8 2-4 14, Lundy 4-11 0-0 9, Dread 0-2 0-0 0, Henn 1-2 0-0 2, Clary 1-4 0-0 2, Mahaffey 1-1 2-2 4. Totals 28-58 10-13 76.
MINNESOTA (7-17): Battle 4-10 1-2 9, Garcia 9-14 3-5 23, Ola-Joseph 4-7 1-2 11, Cooper 3-7 0-0 6, Henley 1-5 0-0 2, Payne 7-12 4-6 18, Carrington 0-1 0-0 0, Samuels 0-0 0-0 0, Ramberg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-56 9-15 69.
Halftime--Penn St. 45-35. 3-Point Goals--Penn St. 10-26 (Pickett 4-8, Funk 3-6, Wynter 2-2, Lundy 1-7, Henn 0-1, Dread 0-2), Minnesota 4-12 (Ola-Joseph 2-3, Garcia 2-4, Henley 0-1, Battle 0-4). Rebounds--Penn St. 29 (Pickett 9), Minnesota 32 (Payne 10). Assists--Penn St. 17 (Pickett 8), Minnesota 22 (Cooper 8). Total Fouls--Penn St. 16, Minnesota 15. A--11,693