Penn State 73, Marshall 69: D.J. Newbill finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals as the visiting Nittany Lions held on late to claim their sixth straight victory.

Brandon Taylor and John Johnson also scored 17 points - with Johnson's a season high off the bench - for Penn State (8-1), whose six-game run is the program's longest in seven seasons. Travis Ross grabbed nine rebounds as the Nittany Lions won the battle of the boards 46-35.

Jay Johnson had a career-high 19 points in a reserve role to lead the Thundering Herd (3-5), who have lost five in a row. Tamron Manning finished with a season-high 12 points while Ryan Taylor and Aleksa Nikolic had 10 apiece for Marshall.

Newbill threw down a dunk to highlight a 6-0 burst that put the Nittany Lions up 54-42 with 8:33 remaining but the hosts clawed to within 56-52 on Jay Johnson's three-point play with 5:39 left and put together an 11-2 run to cut its deficit to 66-65 with 1:12 to play. Donovon Jack rebounded Newbill's miss and scored on the other end and Jay Johnson missed a 3-point try before Jack hit two free throws with 38 ticks remaining to give the Nittany Lions enough to survive.

The Thundering Herd led 17-14 midway through the first half on Jay Johnson's 3-pointer before the Nittany Lions closed the stanza on a 17-7 run to take a seven-point lead at the break. Marshall went the first four-plus minutes of the second half without a point and Newbill's three-point play helped Penn State claim a 37-24 lead with 16 minutes left.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Penn State has won all seven meetings, including victories in each of the last two seasons. ... Marshall F Shawn Smith missed his third straight game with a shoulder injury. ... The teams combined to shoot 13-for-45 from 3-point range.