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PHILADELPHIA – Junior Tyreek Duren drained a career-high 29 points (9-13 FG, 4-7 3PT, 7-8 FT) in La Salle's 82-57 defeat of Penn State Wednesday night at the Palestra.

Up 38-34 at halftime, the Explorers (5-1) outplayed the Nittany Lions in the second half, outscoring their in-state foe 44-23 in the period. Duren rattled off 11 straight points for the Blue and Gold midway through the frame, including “and one” finishes at the basket on back to back possessions. The point guard's scoring spree enabled La Salle to open up a 65-46 advantage at the 7:52 mark and never look back.

“It feels like every shot is falling,” Duren said. "Then you got your teammates on your backing telling me to keep shooting, keep leading.”

“We expect that from him and we'll continue to expect that from him,” head coach Dr. John Giannini said. “He's a wonderful player and one of the best guards in America. We like our guards as a group against anyone. We think they're that good.”

That group combined to make 16 three-pointers, the most since the turn of the century and just two shy of tying a school record set on December 31, 1990 vs. Loyola Marymount and then again on December 28, 1991 vs. Oregon.

After shooting 57 percent (13-23) from the field in the first half, Penn State's offense was stymied by the Explorer pressure for much of the second frame. From the 14:16 – 7:20 mark, the Nittany Lions mustered up only five points while La Salle posted 21 behind their hot-handed point guard.

Penn State hung with the Explorers for game's first 25 minutes and trailed only 43-41 at the 15:33 mark in the second half.

Senior Ramon Galloway (14 points; 5-14 FG, 3-8 3PT, 1-3 FT) and junior Sam Mills (14 points; 4-8 FG, 4-8 3PT, 2-2 FT) joined Duren in double figures while sophomore Steve Zack pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Duren added four assists to his gaudy stat line while junior Taylor Dunn, whose father Jerry was the head coach at PSU from 1995-03, provided two three-point buckets late in the game off the bench.

The Nittany Lions (4-4) were led by a 19 point (6-12 FG, 2-4 3PT, 5-6 FT) outing from Jermaine Marshall; Travis Ross (12 points; 6-11 FG, 0-1 FT) and Philadelphia native D.J. Newbill (12 points; 5-13 FG, 2-6 FT) registered double figure nights as well.

La Salle coughed up a season-low four turnovers, the least allowed during Giannini's tenure. The four turnovers are the fourth fewest committed by a Division I team this season.

Penn State outrebounded the Explorers 36-27 while the Blue and Gold notched a 16-11 advantage in the assists column.

La Salle's 5-1 start is the best since the 2005-06 team started 7-0 behind Steven Smith. 

The Explorers resume their schedule on Saturday at 7 PM at Northeastern.