Watkins leads No. 20 Penn State over Cornell 90-59

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Mike Watkins scored 16 of his 19 points in the first half and No. 20 Penn State beat Cornell 90-59 on Sunday.

Lamar Stevens added 19 points, Myreon Jones scored 18, Izaiah Brockington had 11 and Watkins added 10 rebounds for the Nittany Lions (11-2), who won their 13th straight home game.

Penn State led for all but 2:01 after Stevens took over midway through the first half.

The big forward broke a 9-all tie with three-straight baskets that made it 16-9. When Stevens needed a breather moments later, Seth Lundy relieved and drilled a 3-pointer to give the Nittany Lions their first double-digit lead.

Cornell (1-10) made just one field goal over the next 4:56. Three Big Red 3-pointers before halftime didn’t help much, as Penn State put together a 26-20 run and closed out the first 20 minutes with a 45-29 lead.

Stevens opened the second half with a half-court steal he turned into an easy dunk. It sparked a 33-14 run over the next 13:28 and Penn State led by 35 with 6:32 left.

Jimmy Boeheim scored 17 points and Terrance McBride added 12 for the Big Red, who lost their 10th straight game.

BIG PICTURE

Cornell: After opening the season with a 20-point win over Binghamton, the Big Red have now dropped 10 in a row. While they’ve lost six of those by four points or less, they have shot better than 45% from the floor in just one of those outings.

Penn State: The Nittany Lions kept rolling and had another chance to show off their depth in this one.

UP NEXT

SUNY-Purchase visits Cornell on Jan. 7.

Penn State hosts Iowa on Saturday.