Pitt
Penn St
Men's Basketball Loses To Penn State By 14
12/6/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2000
By DAN LEWERENZ
Associated Press Writer
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Joe Crispin scored a career-high 36 points to lead Penn State to a 88-74 victory over on Wednesday night.
Crispin hit seven 3-pointers for the Nittany Lions (4-1), who kept a double-digit lead throughout most of the second half.
Isaac Hawkins scored eight points and Ricardo Greer had six in a 21-7 run that brought Pitt (5-1) within 64-59 with 8:12 left, but a Jon Crispin jumper and a pair of free throws by Gyasi Cline-Heard ended the run.
The Panthers again closed the lead to single digits, but Cline-Heard's leaner and a Joe Crispin 3-pointer put Penn State up 83-69 with 2:53 left.
Joe Crispin scored 16 of his points in the first half, hitting all four of his 3-point attempts and scoring the first eight Penn State points in a 22-7 run that put the Nittany Lions up 31-13 with 6:03 left in the first half. The Nittany Lions led 39-23 at halftime.
Cline-Heard finished with 18 points, and Tyler Smith scored 13 points.
Greer led Pitt with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Brandin Knight scored 16 for the Panthers, and Hawkins had 14.
It was the first meeting between Pitt and Penn State since 1992, when the Panthers won 67-65 in the first round of the NIT. Their last regular season meeting, a 52-46 double overtime victory for Penn State, was on Jan. 16, 1982.
Penn State leads the series 75-65.
