Fast Start Carries #23 Penn State by Men's Basketball

The 23rd-ranked Penn State men's basketball team used a hot-shooting start to glide past Central Connecticut, 87-58, on Friday at the Bryce Jordan Center. CCSU was held scoreless for the opening three minutes, while Penn State built a double-digit lead it would maintain throughout. Central concludes the non-conference slate with a home game against Connecticut College on Dec. 29.

Freshman Greg Outlaw scored a team-high 14 points, while junior Stephane Ayangma and freshman Trey Tennyson each added nine. CCSU shot 21-of-62 (.339) from the field and 7-of-19 (.368) on three-pointers. The Blue Devils were 9-of-16 (.563) at the foul line and had 13 assists.

Penn State shot 33-of-61 (.541) from the field and was 10-of-30 (.333) from the arc. The Nittany Lions shot 21-of-34 (.618) from the floor in the opening half. PSU outrebounded CCSU 37-35.Myreon Jones led three in double-figures with a game-high 21 points.

GAME INFORMATION

Score: Central Connecticut 58, #23 Penn State 87
Records: CCSU (0-12), PSU (10-2)
Location: Bryce Jordan Center | State College, PA

COACH QUOTES

"A team like ours is young and even though we played a lot of high majors, they still want to win and they're competitive," said head coach Donyell Marshall. "The frustration is that we are 0 and 12 right now. Again, they're looking at the losses too. They keep getting upset because I keep telling them how much better we're getting, but they only look at the loss. They don't look at how much we've gotten better since the start of the season. We're going to concentrate on the conference now because if you look at the guys with the teams we played at our level, we played well this non-conference. When the conference comes, I think we'll have a legit chance."

KEY MOMENTS

• The Nittany Lions hit their first 11 field goals, including five three-pointers, while holding CCSU scoreless for the opening 2:55 and would race out to a 29-10 lead after scoring the game's first 12 points.
• Freshman Greg Outlaw had a spurt of five unanswered points to make it 29-15 before the Blue Devils were held scoress for over three minutes. Outlaw would end the drought and accounted for 11 straight CCSU points at one point.
• After freshman Jamir Reed hit a three-pointer to open the scoring in the second half, the Nittany Lions would respond with a 13-0 run, holding CCSU scoreless for over six minutes to push the lead to 64-34. The Blue Devils would get no closer than 74-27 the rest of the way.

NUMBER TO KNOW

11 - Consecutive points scored for CCSU by Outlaw over a five-minute stretch in the first half.

NOTES

• The teams were meeting for just the third time and first since Jan. 22, 2010. Penn State has won all three meetings.
• Central played a ranked team for the first time since playing at #13 Virginia Tech on Dec. 1, 2018.
• Outlaw accounted for 11 straight points for CCSU at one point and would finish with 14 points in the opening half, a CCSU-high for a period this season.
• Ayangma had a team-high four assists. CCSU's 13 assists were its most since having 15 in the season-opener.
• Freshman Ola Olamuyiwa scored a career-high six points.
• CCSU, entered the game ranked fourth in the NEC in steals had eight steals in the game.
• Penn State shot 21-of-34 (.618) in the opening half, the best shooting performance by a Central opponent in a half this season.

UP NEXT
Central concludes the non-conference slate with a home game against Connecticut College on Dec. 29.