Josh Reed scored 25 points to lead Penn State to a 97-93 home win over Chattanooga on Thursday.
Ivan Juric added 15 points and 10 rebounds for Penn State (2-0), which set a program record by making 43 free throws on 49 attempts.
Kobe McDowell-White scored a game-high 28 points, and Matt Hampton added 25 for Chattanooga (0-2).
With Penn State leading 91-83 in the final minute, Chattanooga cut the deficit to 91-86 with 37 seconds remaining after a 3-pointer by McDowell-White, but Reed hit a layup with 25.8 seconds to give Penn State a 93-86 advantage.
Hampton hit a pair of free throws with 6.7 seconds remaining to make it a 95-90 game, and after Juric hit a free throw with 6.1 seconds, Chattanooga’s Lenny Anigbata hit a 3-pointer with .8 seconds left to make it 96-93 Penn State.
A free throw by Penn State’s Roko Prkacin with .3 seconds left wrapped up the scoring.
Trailing 54-31 at the half, Chattanooga started the second half strong, scoring 25 points in the first eight minutes of the half to cut Penn State’s lead to 66-56 with 12:00 remaining.
Chattanooga eventually cut its deficit to six at 85-79 with 2:54 left after a corner layup by Anigbata.
Penn State restored its lead to 10 at 89-79 following a basket by Reed with 2:28 remaining before Chattanooga made it an 89-83 game with 1:36 left after a pair of free throws by Hampton.
Dasonte Bowen made two free throws with 41.5 seconds remaining to give Penn State a 91-83 lead.
Penn State took advantage of the free-throw line in the first half, going 21-of-22 from the charity stripe and shooting 9 of 13 on 2-point attempts.
Chattanooga was called for 17 personal fouls in the first half.
Chattanooga trailed by only five at 25-20 with 9:49 remaining in the first half, but Penn State gained some separation after that.
Over the next 2:44, the Nittany Lions went on a 13-2 run to take a 38-22 lead with 7:05 to go until halftime following a basket by Prkacin.
–Field Level Media
