Jalen Pickett scored 32 points to lead Penn State to a 76-69 Big Ten win at Minnesota on Saturday.
Pickett went 11-for-20 from the field overall and 4 of 8 from 3-point range for the Nittany Lions (16-11, 7-9 Big Ten).
Camren Wynter scored 14 points and Andrew Funk added 11 points to flank Pickett for Penn State.
Dawson Garcia scored 23 points and Pharrel Payne had 18 points for Minnesota (7-17, 1-13), which has lost nine straight.
Penn State shot 48.3 percent from the field overall (28 of 58), 38.5 percent from 3-point range (10 of 26) and committed just seven turnovers.
Minnesota shot 50 percent from the field overall but just made 4 of 12 shots from 3-point range.
Trailing 52-50 with 11:46 remaining in the game, Penn State responded by going on an 11-0 run to take a 61-52 lead with 8:26 left.
Minnesota answered, cutting Penn State’s lead to 67-64 with 4:25 remaining after a three-point play by Payne.
Leading 71-66, Funk connected on a dagger of a 3-pointer with 1:20 left to give the Nittany Lions a 74-66 lead.
Minnesota couldn’t get any closer than six points the rest of the way.
Penn State held a 45-35 lead at halftime, but Minnesota climbed back into the game to start the second half, going on a 13-1 run to take a 48-46 lead with 13:29 remaining.
Penn State took a 15-10 lead with 14:11 remaining in the first half, but Minnesota went on a 9-2 run to take a 19-17 lead with 12:07 left until halftime.
Penn State countered with an 8-2 surge to take a 25-21 lead with 9:33 left in the first half.
Minnesota tied the game at 29-29 with 6:19 left in the first half, but Penn State went on an 8-0 run to take a 37-29 lead with 4:22 to go until halftime.
–Field Level Media