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UNIVERSITY PARK -- Josh Reed scored 25 points and Penn State used a strong first half and dominance at the foul line to defeat Chattanooga 97-93 on Thursday night.
The Nittany Lions took a 54-31 lead at the half and made a record program record 43 free throws on 49 attempts (88%), led by Reed's 15 of 16 and 10 of 14 from Ivan Juric, who finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Francois Wibaut scored 14 points, and Dasonte Bowen and reserve Roko Prkacin added 13 apiece for the Nittany Lions (2-0). Thomas Allard scored 11.
Kobe McDowell-White scored 28 points with eight assists for the Mocs (0-2) on 10-of-11 shooting, including 7 of 8 on 3-pointers. Matthew Hampton added 25 points and Lenny Anigbata had 19. Four Mocs fouled out.
Chattanooga made 6 of 12 3-pointers and shot 61% (22 of 36) in the second half. The Mocs scored the first eight points of the second half to cut into Penn State's lead and kept chipping away until McDowell-White's layup made it 71-62 just beyond the midpoint.
The Mocs never got it down to one possession until Anigbata hit a 3 with less than a second left before Prkacin made the final free throw for the school record.
Penn State shot 50% from the field and made 21 of 22 free throws to open a 54-31 lead at the half. Reed led the way with 11 points.
CHATTANOOGA (0-2): Levy 2-8 0-1 4, Bleshoy 1-4 7-9 9, Hampton 9-16 6-9 25, McDowell-White 10-11 1-2 28, Anigbata 8-12 0-0 19, Matos 2-10 0-0 4, Cusano 1-1 0-0 2, Fleeman 0-2 0-0 0, Holland 0-1 0-0 0, Bowman 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 34-66 14-23 93.
PENN STATE (2-0): Juriv 2-5 10-14 15, Reed 5-8 15-16 25, Allard 4-8 0-0 11, Bowen 3-9 6-6 13, Byers 1-10 4-4 6, Prkavin 4-4 5-6 13, Wibaut 5-9 3-3 14, Rodgers 0-0 0-0 0, Oboh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 43-49 97.
Halftime--Penn State 54-31. 3-Point Goals_Chattanooga 11-30 (McDowell-White 7-8, Anigbata 3-5, Hampton 1-4, Holland 0-1, Bleshoy 0-2, Levy 0-5, Matos 0-5), Penn State 6-23 (Allard 3-7, Juric 1-1, Bowen 1-2, Wibaut 1-4, Reed 0-2, Byers 0-7). Fouled Out--Anigbata, Cusano, Fleeman, Bowman, Allard. Rebounds--Chattanooga 26 (Bleshoy 6), Penn State 35 (Juric 10). Assists--Chattanooga 23 (McDowell-White 8), Penn State 14 (Byers, Prkacin 4). Total Fouls--Chattanooga 33, Penn State 21.
Ndongo leads Pitt
PITTSBURGH -- Baye Ndongo had 23 points and 21 rebounds, Chase Foster added 20 points and Pittsburgh rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to beat Buffalo 80-61 on Thursday night.
Ndongo made 13 of 17 free throws and added two steals. The Georgia Tech transfer's 20-20 performance was the first by a Pitt player since Justin Champagnie on Dec. 12, 2020.
The Panthers (2-0) trailed 47-32 early in the second half before steadily erasing the deficit. Jonathan Powell hit consecutive 3-pointers to pull within 53-52, and Naithan George made two free throws to give the Panthers their first lead of the half at 54-53 with 8:59 remaining.
George had 16 points, seven assists and two steals, while Foster finished with nine rebounds and two blocks.
Drew Steffe led Buffalo (0-2) with 15 points, four assists and three steals. Syracuse transfer J.J. Starling added 13 points.
BUFFALO (0-2): Lorick 2-8 3-4 8, Pitre 1-1 4-4 6, Starling 5-13 2-4 13, Steffe 5-10 3-6 15, Tyne 1-6 2-2 5, Ducommun 3-9 0-0 9, John 0-0 2-2 2, Buteliauskas 1-3 0-0 3, Frakes 0-1 0-0 0, K.Jones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-51 16-22 61.
PITTSBURGH (2-0): Ndongo 5-10 13-17 23, Souare 2-2 1-4 5, George 3-9 8-10 16, Sumler 2-9 1-2 5, Powell 2-9 0-0 6, Foster 5-10 9-12 20, Bethea 0-4 2-2 2, Mighty 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 20-54 35-49 80.
Halftime--Buffalo 45-32. 3-Point Goals--Buffalo 9-32 (Ducommun 3-9, Steffe 2-5, Buteliauskas 1-3, Lorick 1-3, Tyne 1-5, Starling 1-6, Frakes 0-1), Pittsburgh 5-23 (George 2-3, Powell 2-9, Foster 1-5, Ndongo 0-1, Bethea 0-2, Sumler 0-3). Fouled Out--Lorick, K.Jones. Rebounds--Buffalo 23 (Lorick, Steffe 5), Pittsburgh 45 (Ndongo 21). Assists--Buffalo 9 (Steffe 4), Pittsburgh 11 (George 7). Total Fouls--Buffalo 33, Pittsburgh 19. A--3,939 (12,508).