NEWARK, N.J. — Sheldon Jeter can’t quite put his finger on why Pitt is giving up second half leads. Fortunately, he and the Panthers can continue to look for answers after a victory.

Michael Young had 29 points and nine rebounds as Pittsburgh held on to defeat Penn State 81-73 on Saturday in the Never Forget Tribute Classic.

To Pitt coach Kevin Stallings, it was déjà vu.

“That looked like a lot of our games to me so far this year to me,” Stallings said. “Really good play on both ends in the first half. Second half, offensive play was probably good enough. Defensive play was not very good.”

Jamel Artis had 16 points and eight rebounds, Cameron Johnson scored 10 and Jeter added eight points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots for Pitt.

A 3-pointer by Ryan Luther gave the Panthers (8-2) a 50-26 lead with 16:50 to play but Penn State used an 11-2 run to trim its deficit to 15 about four minutes later. Shep Garner scored four points during a 6-0 spurt that pulled the Nittany Lions within five with 1:50 left but Jeter answered with a 3-pointer and they would get no closer.

“Sheldon is a great team guy.He probably hit the biggest shot of the game. They had the moment and he jumped up and he stuck that three in from the corner there,” Stallings said. “Biggest shot of the game probably for us.”