KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Pierre Brooks scored a career-high 26 points, Jahmyl Telfort added 18 and Butler cruised to an 88-78 victory over Penn State on Friday in the ESPN Events Invitational.
Penn State trailed the entire second half but pulled within 64-61 on Kanye Clary's jumper with 7:57 to play. Brooks answered a pair of 3s to bookend an 11-3 surge to help the Bulldogs pull away.
Brooks was 9-of-13 shooting from the floor and finished with five 3-pointers. Telfort made 4 of 11 shots and a pair of 3s. DJ Davis added 14 points and Andre Screen had nine for Butler (4-2), which made half its 62 field goal attempts. Telfort, Davis and Screen combined for 23 of the Bulldogs' 35 rebounds.
Clary scored 28 points to lead Penn State (4-2). Ace Baldwin Jr. added 15 points, Nick Kern Jr. had 12 and Zach Hicks 11.
Butler used a 15-4 run, capped by a Brooks 3, for a 38-36 advantage with 2:16 left in the first half and led the rest of the way.
Butler will face VCU or Boise State for fifth place in the tournament Sunday at 4 p.m. before returning home to host Texas Tech on Thursday. Penn State is at home against Bucknell on Dec. 2.
BUTLER 88, PENN STATE 78
PENN ST. (4-2) — Hicks 4-7 0-0 11, Wahab 1-3 1-2 3, Baldwin 4-12 4-4 15, Clary 13-22 0-0 28, Kern 6-9 0-0 12, Johnson 1-5 1-2 4, Dunn 1-7 0-0 2, O'Boyle 1-4 0-0 3, Brown 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 31-71 6-8 78.
BUTLER (4-2) — Telfort 7-14 3-3 18, Thomas 3-6 0-0 6, Alexander 2-4 0-0 4, Davis 4-11 4-4 14, Brooks 9-13 3-4 26, Moore 2-5 2-2 6, Screen 2-3 5-6 9, Bizjack 0-1 0-0 0, Kapke 1-1 0-0 2, Turnbull 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 31-62 17-19 88.
Halftime: Butler 42-39.
3-Point Goals: Penn St. 10-31 (Hicks 3-5, Baldwin 3-8, Clary 2-8, Johnson 1-2, O'Boyle 1-4, Brown 0-1, Dunn 0-3), Butler 9-28 (Brooks 5-9, Davis 2-7, Turnbull 1-2, Telfort 1-4, Bizjack 0-1, Alexander 0-2, Moore 0-3).
Rebounds: Penn St. 33 (Hicks 8), Butler 33 (Telfort, Screen 8).
Assists: Penn St. 9 (Hicks, Clary 3), Butler 13 (Davis, Moore 3).
Total Fouls: Penn St. 15, Butler 10.
Attendance: 2,194 (8,000).