By TRAVIS JOHNSON The Associated Press
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Myreon Jones scored a career-high 22 points to lead Penn State over Wake Forest 76-54 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Wednesday night.
Lamar Stevens added 14 points and Izaiah Brockington had 13 for the Nittany Lions (7-1), who never trailed and led by as many as 31 with 6:16 to play.
Olivier Sarr scored 14 points and added 10 rebounds while Andrien White had 10 points for the Demon Deacons (5-4), who trailed 41-23 at halftime.
The Nittany Lions played sturdy defense all night. It was particularly smothering in the first eight minutes.
Mike Watkins started the game with a block in the corner before the Nittany Lions turned six turnovers, including five steals, into 10 points and a 14-4 lead.
An alley-oop from Chaundee Brown to Sharone Wright Jr. snapped the Demon Deacons out of their lull. It sparked a 16-11 run over the next 5:12 that cut their deficit to 25-20. They wouldn’t get any closer as Penn State went on an 16-3 run to close out the half.
THE BIG PICTURE
Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons were sloppy early and never recovered. The comfort of home might help as they’ve played their last six on the road.
Penn State: The Nittany Lions haven’t had much success against current Atlantic Coast Conference teams but improved to 151-193 with this one that was never really close. They’ve won their last nine home games dating to last season.
UP NEXT
Wake Forest hosts North Carolina State on Saturday.
Penn State visits No. 6 Ohio State on Saturday.
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