The new-look Colonials were on display Tuesday night in a 76-66 win over Penn State in the Smith Center.

Balanced scoring, contributions from the bench and a nearly 80 percent mark from the free throw line – the things fans hoped would lead the team to success this season – all helped GW move to 8-1 on the season against the Nittany Lions. With former star Maurice Creek, a deep threat who was missed last season, in the crowd, the Colonials drained nine threes.

“Last year we didn’t have a lot of depth either but we couldn’t overcome a game where Patricio Garino had 2 [points] and Kevin Larsen had 6. But I think those guys, now that they’re experienced, they’re able to do a lot of good things,” head coach Mike Lonergan said.

Another awaited addition, redshirt junior forward Tyler Cavanaugh, led GW with 18 points and 10 rebounds. He took on the scoring mantle in the second half from sophomore forward Yuta Watanabe, who scored all 14 of his points in the first. Senior guard Joe McDonald helped out too, finishing the night with 16 points and 6 rebounds after scoring just 2 in the first half.

The Colonials took a 40-33 lead into the lockers at halftime, despite being outscored in the paint 12-6, riding 7-of-14 shooting from beyond the arc.

Watanabe put on a long-range clinic in the first half. He made his first three, falling down, directly in front of the basket and went into the half shooting 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, with the “Yuta” chants ringing through the Smith Center. He settled for contested shots in the second half that he said he should not have taken and did not score.

But Cavanaugh scored seven straight points for the Colonials out of halftime as the Colonials began to stretch the lead.

“Kevin [Larsen] is a great passer so that helps me a lot,” Cavanaugh said. “There’s countless times this year where I’ve had uncontested layups because he’s passing off a double team so I just think that they’re great passers along with Yuta and the guys off the bench and that helps me get some easy buckets.”

Larsen was sometimes flustered by the Penn State double-team and finished with six points, seven rebounds and five assists.

While the Nittany Lions’ offense became predictable, and shot 7-for-26 from beyond the arc, Brandon Taylor’s 15 points and Payton Banks’ 10 up front helped Penn State outscore GW 32-16 in the paint and a balanced effort off the glass helped the Nittany Lions outrebound the Colonials 37-34.

“They had some big guys, they blocked a few of my shots,” Cavanaugh said. “That’s something I’m trying to work on, I’m not finishing great around the rim overtime but I just think I‘ve got to use my body more and just get more athletic guys up in the air so I can get to the foul line.”

A frustrated Larsen slammed his fist into one of the chairs on GW’s bench early in the first half, after he was unable to finish his first two chances at the rim, but was able to find his spots. He put back a missed three-pointer from graduate student guard Alex Mitola in the first half and led all players on the court with his 5 assists. Larsen, as usual, led the Colonials in minutes with 36.

Shep Garner, who led the Nittany Lions in scoring with 22, was 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. But he, Banks and Taylor got little help from the rest of the Nittany Lions. Led by sophomore guard Paul Jorgensen’s 11, the GW bench outscored Penn State’s 20-14.

Penn State cut the lead to single digits, 71-62 for GW, with a 7-1 run late in the second half, but with the Colonials in the bonus early, it never seemed in question. GW hit 21-of-28 from the charity stripe.

The Colonials lost road games to Virginia, Seton Hall and Penn State last season in the opening legs of four home-and-home agreements. GW won the fourth, against Rutgers, on the road and will get the Scarlet Knights in the Smith Center on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

“We want to go 4-0. That’s one of the little mini-goals we have,” Lonergan said.