STATE COLLEGE, PA – UNC Greensboro went scoreless for 4:30 in the second half and Penn State took advantage with a 9-0 run to take a lead it would not surrender on its way to a 69-56 win in men's basketball action Monday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn State was led by Jamelle Cornley's 23 points and 11 rebounds. Ben Luver added 13 points for the Nittany Lions (2-0)

UNCG (0-2) got 20 points from junior forward Kyle Hines, his 23rd consecutive game in double figures. It was also his 20th career 20-point game as he shot 10-for-14 from the floor. Bart Tooms chipped in with 12 points, including 5-for-6 shooting from the field.

The Spartans were hurt by Penn State's 14 offensive rebounds, 11 in the second half, which allowed Penn State to stretch its lead late. The Nittany Lions also converted UNCG's 14 turnovers into 23 points. UNCG had just eight points off of Penn State miscues.

“I thought we played well for about 30 minutes,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “Then they went off with a flurry of offensive rebounds, especially Cornley and Kyle got his fourth foul – that certainly didn't help us. That was when they started getting three and four shots.”

The teams played a fairly even first half, both shooting 12-of-27 from the floor. Penn State got out to a quick 9-2 lead in the first four minutes of the game as UNCG missed five of its first six from the field. But UNCG slowly climbed back into it. Senior forward Bart Tooms came off the bench to score 10 points in a 15-5 run as UNCG gained its first lead of the night, 17-14, on a Tooms three-pointer with 9:25 to play in the opening half.

Penn State pushed the lead back out to five at one point, but the Spartans pull close once again and trailed by just two, 31-29, at the intermission.

The Nittany Lions started quickly in the second half, too, going on a 7-2 run to open the half to force UNCG coach Mike Dement to call a timeout. And it worked as UNCG ran off seven of the next eight points, capped off by a Kevin Oleksiak three-pointer, to make it a 39-38 Penn State lead. The Nittany Lions, however, ran off six straight, including a pair of buckets by D.J. Jackson, to open up their biggest lead of the night, 45-38.

UNCG, however, used a five-point swing to get back into it. Kyle Hines scored and got fouled. After he missed the free throw, Ben Stywall made a great play to tap the ball out to Dwayne Johnson. He swung it around to Hickman who knocked down a 25-footer to cut it to three. Then, after Hickman took a charge to give UNCG the ball back again, Mikko Koivisto knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game, 49-49.

But Kyle Hines picked up his fourth foul, UNCG went scoreless for 4:30, and Penn State ran off the next nine points to take a 58-49 lead with five minutes to play.

UNCG will stay on its three-game road trip to open the season when they visit 10th ranked Duke on Thursday night at 7 pm. 

SIDELINES: It was old home day for several members of the Spartans staff. Associate head coach Rod Jensen and Spartan Sports Network broadcaster Dick Stewart were on the Penn State coaching staff in the early 1980s under Dick Harter along with Penn State head coach Ed DeChellis, who was a young student assistant back then. In addition, UNCG graduate assistant trainer Aaron Terranova is a Penn State graduate... several players had family in attendance. Kyle Hines, Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Oleksiak all had friends and family in attendance as this was the closest to home that they will play this season... Penn State was without preseason All-Big Ten selection Geary Claxton for the second straight game. Claxton suffered a broken hand in an exhibition game earlier this month and is expected to miss at least two more weeks... UNCG's Matt Akinosho fought through a left hand injury that he suffered Saturday after taking a charge in the loss to Marshall. He did start the game on Monday night but played just nine minutes. He is listed as day-to-day.

AGATE

PENN STATE 69, UNC GREENSBORO 56

UNC GREENSBORO (0-2)
Hines, Kyle 10-14 0-2 20; Tooms, Bart 5-6 0-0 12; Koivisto, Mikko 3-5 0-0 9; Hickman, Ricky 3-12 1-2 8; Oleksiak, Kevin 2-7 0-0 6; Toney, Kendall 0-2 1-2 1; Brown, Pete 0-0 0-0 0; Akinosho, Matt 0-3 0-0 0; Stywall, Ben 0-2 0-0 0; Johnson, Dwyane 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-53 2-6 56.

PENN STATE (2-0)
Cornley, Jamelle 8-13 7-13 23; Luber, Ben 4-8 2-2 13; Hassell, Brandon 4-8 1-1 9; Jackson, David 3-5 2-2 8; Morrissey, Danny 2-10 2-2 7; Walker, Mike 1-6 3-3 5; Jackson, David (DJ) 2-2 0-1 4; Dubois, Maxwell 0-0 0-0 0; Bogetic, Milos 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 17-24 69.

Halftime: Penn State 31-29. 3-point goals--UNC Greensboro 8-23 (Koivisto, Mikko 3-5; Oleksiak, Kevin 2-5; Tooms, Bart 2-3; Hickman, Ricky 1-6; Johnson, Dwyane 0-2; Toney, Kendall 0-2), Penn State 4-18 (Luber, Ben 3-5; Morrissey, Danny 1-6; Jackson, David 0-2; Walker, Mike 0-4; Bogetic, Milos 0-1). Fouled out—UNC Greensboro-None, Penn State-None. Rebounds--UNC Greensboro 26 (Hines, Kyle 7), Penn State 39 (Cornley, Jamelle 11). Assists--UNC Greensboro 16 (Johnson, Dwyane 8), Penn State 20 (Walker, Mike 7). Total fouls—UNC Greensboro 20, Penn State 10. Technical fouls--UNC Greensboro-None, Penn State-None. A-6044

- UNCG -