UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- Seth Lundy hit five three-pointers and finished with a career-high 32 points, Myles Dread made a 3 at the buzzer, and Penn State beat VCU 72-69 on Wednesday night.
Dread was scoreless and 0 for 4 from the field, all 3-point shots, before he took a pass from Jamari Wheeler and drained the winner from the right wing over the outstretched arm of 6 foot 9 with a 7-4 wingspan Hason Ward as time expired.
Sam Sessoms added 17 points for Penn State (2-0).
Levi Stockard III led VCU (2-2) with 13 points and Nah'Shon Hyland scored 11.
Lundy hit two free throws to give the Nittany Lions an eight-point lead with 3:46 to play but VCU scored nine of the next 10 points to make it 69, all when freshman Jamir Watkins made a driving, acrobatic layup with 8.5 seconds left. Penn State went 0 for 3 from the field and 1 for 4 from the free-throw line with two turnovers during that stretch.
“The reality is we’ve got to become a mentally stronger and tougher team” said VCU head coach Mike Rhoades.“ I told the guys that I loved our effort today. I thought offensively at times, when we moved the ball and drove it we got great shots and got to the foul line. We didn’t do it enough consistently.”
Interim coach Jim Ferry took the reigns at Penn State in October after Pat Chambers abruptly resigned following an internal investigation into alleged inappropriate conduct. Ferry joined the Penn State staff in 2017 following a five-year stint as head coach at Duquesne, where he was 60-97.
VCU starter KeShawn Curry left the game in the first half due to a shoulder injury and did not return. Rhoades also said that sophomore guard Jarren McAllister suffered a torn ACL and will have surgery on Tuesday. He is out for the rest of the season. McAllister did not play against Penn State.
VCU has their home opener Saturday against Mount St. Mary’s.
