Behind Dread's big shot, Penn State beats VCU to pass season's first test
By all indications, Penn State had unraveled.
The Nittany Lions let an 8-point lead with 3:46 to go slip as they missed free throws, turned the ball over and generally succumbed to a pressure applied by VCU that they had otherwise managed well all game.
With the game tied at 69, even Penn State's final possession felt disjointed — that is, until the ball ended up in the hands of Myles Dread, who made everything look oh so pure.
Dread knocked down a 3-pointer from the right corner as the buzzer sounded to earn the Nittany Lions (2-0) a 72-69 win over the Rams (2-2), passing their first test of the season under interim head coach Jim Ferry.
Those were Dread's first points of the game.
"Once he was open and he had the last shot, everybody believed it was going in," Penn State guard Sam Sessoms said. "It shows a lot that Jamari [Wheeler] passed him the ball. That's just what our team stands for. We all trust each other and we all believe in one another."
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The final play wasn't what Ferry had drawn up, he admitted postgame. He'd wanted to get Izaiah Brockington a look driving to the rim, but the Rams took his avenues away.
Dread, on the floor despite an 0-for-4 shooting performance to that point, was the open man, and Wheeler made the right pass to send the Nittany Lions home as winners.
"It was really a play that we run, we ran a lot of it today against their pressure," Ferry said. "At that point, it was more about attacking the rim."
Against a VCU program that has become notorious for full-court pressure defense since Shaka Smart brought them to a Final Four with his Havoc system, Penn State acquitted itself well, Ferry thought.
The Nittany Lions turned the ball over 15 times to VCU's 16, and, although their goal was fewer than 10 turnovers, Ferry was pleased.
"I thought we handled the pressure fantastic today, because we had multiple guys who can handle the basketball and are very unselfish," Ferry said. "I knew we were built to play against this team."
Dread's big moment sealed the win, but the Nittany Lions would not have been in that position without the play of sophomore forward Seth Lundy, who scored a career-high 32 points.
He shot 11-19 from the field and 5-10 from 3-point range, including buckets at crucial moments in the second half when it seemed like the momentum was swinging in VCU's favor.
Lundy draws comparisons to recently graduated program legend Lamar Stevens for a variety of reasons, from his high school (Philadelphia's Roman Catholic) to his haircut.
Wednesday night, he was Penn State's go-to guy, much like Stevens had been for the better part of two seasons. But Ferry insisted this is a team that can have a different player carry the load on any given night.
"I think we're a team that wins by committee," Ferry said. "I think we're a team that's really balanced. I think it could be a different guy each night."
Complementing Lundy was Sessoms, a Binghamton transfer guard who notched 17 points on 6-11 shooting in 26 minutes off the bench.
That duo's explosive offensive night made up for a quiet showing from the rest of Penn State's starting five, which combined for 20 points.
Ferry and the Nittany Lions like that flexibility, though, and they'll be looking to take the momentum from this win into a Sunday matchup with Seton Hall.
"It's just going to give everybody confidence going forward," Lundy said. "We know we're a pretty good team, so we've just got to keep the confidence."
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