Dec 8, 2015 2 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – Tyler Cavanaugh scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds and George Washington never trailed in the second half Tuesday night in a 76-66 win over Penn State.

The Colonials (8-1) led by 18 after two Joe McDonald free throws made it 56-38 early in the second half.

The victory was George Washington’s first over a Big Ten team at home since a 77-74 triumph over Wisconsin in 1977. George Washington has now defeated teams from three of the Power Fiver conferences this season: Virginia (ACC), Tennessee (SEC), and Penn State (Big Ten).

Shep Garner led Penn State (5-3) with 22 points as the Nittany Lions could get no closer than 71-62 in the second half on 3-pointer by Brandon Taylor with 4:09 remaining.

McDonald scored 15, Yuta Watanabe had 14 points and Paul Jorgensen 11 for the Colonials.

The Nittany Lions had a three-game winning streak snapped which included a victory at Boston College in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

After trading lead changes over the first six minutes, George Washington took the lead for good at 13-12 on Alex Mitola’s 3-pointer with 13:24 left. George Washington hit on 7 of 14 first-half 3-pointers in taking a 40-33 advantage into halftime.

Watanabe came into the game shooting 8-of-30 from 3-point range on the season. After banking in an early 3-pointer from the top of the key, Watanabe went on to finish the first half by connecting on 4-of-5 shots from deep. Watanabe scored all 14 of his points early on to get the Colonials cooking.

George Washington: The Colonials hadn’t hosted a Big Ten school since a losing to Michigan State in 1986. George Washington won’t have to wait nearly that long again as the Rutgers Scarlet Knights come to the Smith Center over the weekend.

Penn State: The Nittany Lions doubled up GW in points in the paint (32-16) but shot just 56 percent from the free throw line.

George Washington hosts Rutgers on Saturday.

Penn State hots Canisius on Thursday.