Talor Battle scored 31 points and Jeff Brooks added 17 as Penn State held off Duquesne 77-73 on Saturday.

Duquesne (3-3) led at the half 33-30 before Penn State (6-2) got it together after the break and opened with an 11-6 run to take the lead.

Damian Saunders kept the Dukes in the game with two free throws and a 3-pointer to pull Duquesne within 55-54 with 8:12 left. B.J. Monteiro knotted it at 57 apiece with 7:35 left, but Brooks made a hook shot to put the Nittany Lions back on top and Battle hit a jumper to extend it.

The 77 points were by no means an offensive explosion but it was certainly a step up for Penn State, which dropped a 62-39 decision to Maryland in its last game. After shooting 20.6 percent (14 for 68) against the Terrapins, the Nittany Lions went off at 55 percent (28 for 51) against Duquesne.

Penn State has only three more tuneups before Big Ten play, with the biggest test coming when it travels to Virginia Tech next weekend.