Seth Lundy scored 17 points and John Harrar muscled for 16 points and 16 rebounds as Penn State rallied from a 14-point deficit to upset No. 19 Michigan State 62-58 Tuesday night in University Park, Pa.
Jalen Pickett added 10 points, all in the first half, as Penn State (10-12, 5-9 Big Ten) snapped a three-game losing streak and avenged an 80-64 defeat to the Spartans in December.
Sam Sessoms also played a role for the Nittany Lions, scoring all nine of his points in the final 13 minutes to help spark the comeback.
In the final eight minutes, Harrar scored nine points. His biggest bucket came with 35 seconds left when he connected on a put-back of his own miss, drew a foul and completed the three-point play to give Penn State a 58-54 lead.
Lundy was clutch as well. His fifth 3-pointer of the game came with 3:04 left. When he followed with a 15-footer that beat the shot clock with 1:37 left, it gave the Nittany Lions their first lead of the second half, 55-54.
Two free throws each by Sessoms and Dallion Johnson in the final 20 seconds helped Penn State seal the win.
Michigan State (18-7, 9-5) lost for the third time in its last four games. Julius Marble led the Spartans with 14 points and eight rebounds. Max Christie was the only other Spartan to score in double digits, netting 10 points.
The Spartans had a 43-29 lead with less than 14 minutes to go. But Penn State answered with an 11-point run, fueled by 3-pointers by Sessoms, Lundy and Myles Dread, to quickly get back into the game.
Michigan State led by as many as seven points in the first half. But over a span of 5:12 late in the half, the Spartans failed to score, missing four shots and committing two turnovers.
During the Spartans’ drought, Penn State got 3-pointers from Lundy and Pickett. When Pickett tacked on two free throws to complete the run, the Nittany Lions had a 24-22 lead.
But the Spartans tied it at 24 by halftime and opened the second half with a 14-3 run. Gabe Brown fed Joey Hauser for a 3-pointer, then Hauser returned the favor, feeding Brown cross-court for another 3.
Later in the sprint, when Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry drew a technical foul, the Spartans took advantage with a four-point trip down the floor as Brown made the two technical free throws and Marble drained a 15-footer from the baseline for a 38-27 lead.
–Field Level Media
