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PSU men improve to 6-1

STATE COLLEGE (AP) — Nazeer Bostick and Jamari Wheeler scored 14 points apiece and Penn State beat Oral Roberts 86-48 on Friday.

Tony Carr added 13 points and Josh Reaves chipped in all 10 of his in the first half for the Nittany Lions (6-1), who remained hot at home with a 5-0 start, and bounced back from an 11-point loss to No. 16 Texas A&M on Tuesday night in the Progressive Legends Classic championship game.

“I wanted to see how we responded and I think they did a really good job,” Penn State coach Patrick Cham­bers said. “Leadership was there, discipline was there.”

Emmanuel Nzekwesi led the Golden Eagles (1-5) with 11 points while Jon­tray Harris added nine.

Penn State never trailed and led 38-19 at halftime. The Nittany Lions built on that quickly, opening the second half with a 27-9 run for a 65-28 lead midway through the second half. Carr scored seven points, Garner made a pair of 3-pointers, and Mike Wat­kins ended the surge with a dunk — the third dunk during the stretch.

The Nittany Lions continue to get contributions from most of the roster. Five players — Tony Carr, Shep Garner, Lamar Stevens, Josh Reaves and Mike Watkins — entered the game averaging in double-figure scoring. Wheeler showed he can bring speed and even more scoring depth to the lineup.

Penn State racked up 14 steals and forced 18 turnovers against Oral Roberts. Jamari Wheeler had five steals and Josh Reaves had four against the Golden Eagles. The Nittany Lions entered the game third in the nation in total steals with 63.

The Nittany Lions blocked seven Oral Roberts’ shots, led by Watkins with three. Watkins moved to No. 4 all-time in program history with 111 blocks. He surpassed Jan Jagla (2002-04), who had 110 career blocked shots.

ORAL ROBERTS (1-5)

White 1-6 0-1 2, Nzekwesi 5-10 0-0 11, Owens 1-7 1-2 3, Kearns 3-7 0-0 8, Ruder 1-7 0-0 3, Miller 2-5 2-2 6, Ahmedic 1-3 1-2 3, Manek 0-0 0-0 0, Sutton 1-5 0-0 3, Harris 4-7 0-0 9. Totals 19-57 4-7 48.

PENN ST. (6-1)

Stevens 2-6 4-5 8, Watkins 4-5 0-0 8, Garner 2-7 0-0 6, Reaves 4-6 0-0 10, Carr 4-5 2-2 13, Zemgulis 1-2 0-0 3, Harrar 2-2 0-0 4, Pierce 1-3 2-4 4, Hazle 0-0 0-0 0, Moore 1-3 0-0 2, Buttrick 0-1 0-0 0, Wheeler 6-8 1-2 14, Nussbaum 0-0 0-0 0, Bostick 5-9 4-6 14. Totals 32-57 13-19 86.

Halftime–Penn St. 38-19. 3-Point Goals–Oral Roberts 6-16 (Kearns 2-3, Harris 1-2, Nzekwesi 1-2, Sutton 1-3, Ruder 1-5, White 0-1), Penn St. 9-20 (Carr 3-4, Reaves 2-4, Garner 2-7, Wheeler 1-2, Zemgulis 1-2, Bostick 0-1). Fouled Out–None. Rebounds–Oral Roberts 27 (Nzekwesi 6), Penn St. 35 (Wheeler 7). Assists–Oral Roberts 8 (Sutton, White 2), Penn St. 16 (Carr 5). Total Fouls–Oral Roberts 13, Penn St. 13. A–4,463 (15,261).

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