BLACKSBURG, Va.: Izaiah Brockington scored a career-high 24 points to lead Penn State to a 75-55 victory over No. 15 Virginia Tech on Tuesday night.
Brockington hit 10 of 14 the floor, including two 3-pointers for the Nittany Lions (3-1), who used a 17-0 run early in the first half to grab the lead and never trailed again.
Jalen Cone paced the Hokies (4-1) with 11 points. Virginia Tech, which shot just 37% (20 of 54), had won 34 straight non-conference games on its home court.
Penn State played a near-flawless first half, shooting 18 of 35 from the field and forcing 10 turnovers while not committing a single one. Behind Brockingtons 15 points, the Nittany Lions led 42-23 at halftime even though leading scorer Seth Lundy did not score. Lundy, who was averaging 22.3 points per game coming in, went scoreless in the game.
The Nittany Lions ended any hopes of a Virginia Tech comeback early in the second half, making seven of their first nine shots, including four 3s. Myles Dreads 3-pointer with 13:21 remaining gave Penn State a 63-34 lead its largest of the game.
Myreon Jones added 14 points for Penn State, and Dread finished with 11. The Nittany Lions shot 50% (30 of 60) and hit 12 3-pointers.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
The Hokies figure to fall several spots after losing at home to an unranked team and might drop out of the Top 25 completely.
BIG PICTURE
The Nittany Lions played with a lot of energy and were the aggressors right from the start. Their pressure defense rattled Virginia Tech, and they scored 14 points in the first half off Hokies turnovers (22 for the game). It was the perfect response after Penn State squandered a 19-point lead Sunday in an overtime loss to Seton Hall.
The Hokies shot poorly for the second consecutive game, tied a season high with 14 turnovers, and played poorly on defense. A telling moment came early in the second half when Nahiem Alleyne shot an open jumper, and the ball got stuck between the rim and backboard. Virginia Tech simply played its worst game of the season.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions open Big Ten play at Michigan on Sunday.
The Hokies open ACC play with a home game against Clemson next Tuesday.
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