Siulepa Scores Career-High 28 as Pitt Rolls Past Penn State, 80-46

Sunday, December 21

Hershey, PA

12 PM

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Penn State

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Penn St.

Siulepa Scores Career-High 28 as Pitt Rolls Past Penn State, 80-46

12/21/2025 2:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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HERSHEY, Pa. – Freshman forward Roman Siulepa poured in a career-high 28 points and Pitt shot 50 percent from beyond the arc to power past Penn State, 80-46, Saturday afternoon at The GIANT Center in Hershey.

The Panthers (7-6) closed out their non-conference schedule with a dominant performance, building a 20-point halftime lead and never looking back. Siulepa went 10-of-16 from the field and knocked down 5-of-6 three-pointers to surpass his previous career high of 20 points. He entered the game with just three made three-pointers on the season.

Pitt jumped on Penn State early, opening the game with a three-pointer from Barry Dunning, Jr. and never trailing. The Panthers scored their first 15 points exclusively from beyond the arc, as four different players – Dunning, Siulepa, Damarco Minor, and Omari Witherspoon – connected from deep to build a 15-6 advantage.

The hot shooting continued throughout the opening half as Pitt went 6-of-11 from three-point range and shot 53.3 percent (16-of-30) from the field to take a commanding 40-20 lead into the break. Meanwhile, the Panthers' defense held Penn State to just 26 percent shooting (7-of-27) and 2-of-13 from three-point range in the first 20 minutes.

Siulepa had eight first-half points while Nojus Indrusaitis grabbed a career-high seven rebounds before halftime to help Pitt control the glass 21-16. Indrusaitis finished with eight rebounds, establishing a new career high.

Penn State (8-4) trimmed the deficit to 13 points early in the second half with an 8-0 run, but Brandin Cummings stopped the rally with a stepback jumper and then converted a pair of free throws. The Midland, Pa. native finished with eight points and six rebounds.

From there, Minor took over the playmaking duties. The senior guard hit a three-pointer and found Siulepa for a slam to push the lead back to 51-32. Minor finished with 11 points and a game-high seven assists while connecting on 3-of-5 from long range.

Siulepa heated up midway through the second half, knocking down back-to-back three-pointers to extend Pitt's advantage to 59-37. His fifth triple of the afternoon gave the Panthers a 62-37 cushion with under eight minutes to play.

Witherspoon added 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, while Cameron Corhen contributed nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.

For the game, Pitt shot 50.0 percent (30-of-60) from the field and made 12-of-24 three-pointers (50.0 percent). The Panthers dominated the glass, outrebounding Penn State 42-30, including a 10-7 edge on the offensive boards. Pitt also held a 12-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

Penn State was led by Freddie Dilione V, who scored 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting. The Nittany Lions shot just 32.7 percent (18-of-55) from the field and struggled from three-point range, making only 4-of-23 attempts (17.4 percent).

Pitt defeated Penn State for eighth time in the past nine meetings and the Panthers have closed the all-time series to 76-73 in favor of the Nittany Lions. This was the third consecutive meeting played at a neutral site.