Pickett just misses triple-double, PSU tops Quinnipiac
UNIVERSITY PARK » Jalen Pickett finished an assist shy of a triple-double and Penn State defeated Quinnipiac 7768 on 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 (94), 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.
(4) KANSAS 68, HARVARD 54 » Jalen Wilson scored 21 points and Kansas overcame a frigid performance from 3-point range to beat Harvard.
The Jayhawks (11-1) went 4 for 20 from behind the arc, with no player besides Gradey Dick hitting one until Wilson made one with just over a minute remaining. Wilson scored 11 points in the final 6:24.
Kevin McCullar added 14 points and Dick had 11, going 3 for 7 behind the arc. KJ Adams had 10.
Wilson reached the 1,000-point plateau with his 16th point.
Chris Ledlum had 17 points for Harvard (8-5). Evan Nelson scored 10.
(5) ARIZONA 93, MORGAN STATE 68 » Azuolas Tubelis scored 26 points, Oumar Ballo added 21 and Arizona closed out its nonconference schedule by overpowering Morgan State.
The Wildcats (12-1) were coming off a pair of tests in wins over No. 8 Tennessee and Montana State, NCAA Tournament teams a year ago. Arizona had another fight on its hands early against the scrappy Bears (48), one of the nation’s best teams at creating defensive chaos.
Morgan State did cause some early problems and kept the Wildcats within reach from the 3-point line.
The Wildcats turned into bullies.
Arizona scored 28 more points in the paint and used
a 17-2 run spanning halftime to give coach Tommy Lloyd a tie for the second-best start (45-5) after 50 games in Division I history.
Women
(12) UTAH 90, SOUTHERN UTAH 56 » Gianna Kneepkens scored 17 points and
Utah used a hot second half to race past Southern Utah (4-7) as the Utes matched the best start in school history.
The 2018-19 team also started 12-0. The chance to set the record comes when the Utes resume Pac-12 Conference play at Washington State on Dec. 30.