Bouncing back from blowout loss, Penn State tops No. 4 Maryland, 76-69
Mark Turgeon couldn’t help but repeat himself.
Making an opening statement, then answering questions from the media following a 76-69 upset by Penn State against his No. 4-ranked Terrapins, a theme quickly materialized. Maryland, an unbeaten 10-0 to this point in the season, competed tirelessly but simply couldn’t quite get past a Nittany Lion group that he described as “the better team” for the evening.
“I thought Penn State was terrific. From the first play, they ran a lob on us. We saw it coming and couldn't do anything about it,” Turgeon said. “And I thought defensively they were great for 40 minutes. They're quick, they're fast, they fly around, they run you off the three-point line. They were really good. They're really good. They were really good tonight defensively.”
Penn State head coach Patrick Chambers shared the sentiment.
Knocking off a top ten opponent at the Bryce Jordan Center twice in as many seasons, this one had a decidedly different feel from a big upset of No. 6 Michigan last February. Rather, even after a 32-point loss at similarly unbeaten Ohio State to open the Big Ten schedule last Saturday, Penn State looked, played, and felt like a team that belonged.
“It’s all about the response, right? Especially at Ohio State, the way they beat us, are you gonna respond with toughness? Because you can't let one loss lead to two. You can't let Ohio State beat you twice. And obviously, we don't want to look back, but last year it snowballed on us. One led to two, two led to three,” Chambers said. “I think we're more mental conditioned this year with our veterans and our leaders to be able to say we're drawing the line in the sand. ‘We're not letting this happen anymore.’”
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The Nittany Lions made that pronouncement from the tip Tuesday night in front of a raucous 8,643 fans on hand at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Immediately winning the jump ball, a Jamari Wheeler alley-oop to Mike Watkins opened the scoring for Penn State and quickly was followed by a Myles Dread 3-pointer. Though the Nittany Lions wouldn’t immediately build on the lead, Maryland tying, then trading a single-digit lead back and forth in the game’s opening minutes, the hosts wouldn’t let it last.
Sparked by an Izaiah Brockington fast-break to retake an 11-10 lead at the 15:39 mark in the first half, the Nittany Lions ripped off an 11-0 run to jump ahead 20-10 with 11:08 left to play. Led by Anthony Cowan’s seven points in the closing minutes of the half, Maryland stayed within range but ultimately found itself on the low end of a 40-30 halftime deficit in front of a hungry home crowd.
“I'm proud of my team,” Chambers said. “I was concerned. I was concerned after Ohio State. We haven't lost like that in a long time. And when you lose like that, you gotta respond. Ole Miss, we responded at Syracuse. Can you respond again? And to watch them come out and play the way they did in the first eight minutes, they really stymied Maryland. Holding Maryland to 30 is amazing because they have so many good players, and they're so well-coached.”
Penn State would need its home-court advantage in the second frame, locked into a game that teetered from a 10-point lead down to five, back to 10 and back down to five, then eventually down to 52-50 thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from Darryl Morsell and Cowan at the 10:57 mark.
One of the game’s defining moments, a Brockington miss on the offensive end appeared to be a routine rebound for Makhi Mitchell, were it not for Brockington’s tenacity in keeping with the play. Reaching in for the ball to poke it away, the redshirt sophomore wing turned up with it and quickly dispensed to a waiting Watkins at the hoop for a dunk. Retaking the game’s momentum with the play, the Nittany Lions regained a 58-50 advantage with a Myreon Jones layup and a Brockington steal and fast-break dunk.
Penn State wasn’t in the clear, however.
With Cowan knocking down another 3-pointer on Maryland’s ensuing possession, the two teams found themselves back in a 5-point game at the under-eight media timeout. But Penn State senior forward Lamar Stevens helped secure a cushion, boosted by free throws down the stretch, with his tightly contested, turnaround baseline fadeaway with just 2:48 left to play.
“I was proud of the way we played in the second half. We competed,” Turgeon said. “They made timely shots, we didn't. In the end, Brockington's three, Stevens' fadeaway, which was really good defense but was a big-time shot. They deserve to win.”
Closing out the game at the free-throw line, Maryland’s last-ditch efforts in the final minute were turned away, leaving Penn State’s student section to storm the BJC hardwood and Chambers to contextualize the significance of the win at this early stage of the season.
“If you look at us and the way we've played, with our record now being 8-2 and knocking off the top-five team, we already had some buzz on campus,” Chambers said. “We have good wins: Georgetown, Syracuse, Wake Forest, I'm even going to throw Bucknell and Yale in. They're really good teams. So I think that there's going to be energy, there's going to be excitement around this program for people to come out.
“But I think this game could help us in March. It's not going to punch our ticket, but it's definitely going to help us where we're trying to go.”
Penn State returns to action Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip against Alabama back at the BJC.
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