Penn State Drops 75-70 Road Game at Minnesota
STORY VIA PENN STATE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT
MINNEAPOLIS – The Penn State men’s basketball team dropped a 75-70 game at Minnesota in the Nittany Lions’ regular-season road finale Saturday afternoon at Williams Arena.
Puff Johnson scored a career-best 19 points to lead the Nittany Lions. Ace Baldwin Jr. finished with 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds, while Qudus Wahab added 11 points and six rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Puff Johnson scored 11 points in the first six minutes to help the Nittany Lions out to an early 18-8 lead. Penn State used an 11-0 run from 15:11 to 13:24 to cap the streak and take an early double-digit lead.After the Gophers scored four-straight to pull within six, Penn State rattled off a 12-0 streak over the next 3:43 to cap a 23-4 Nittany Lion run that would end up spanning 7:05. Penn State started the game 9-for-13 from the field and 6-for-6 from deep through the first 12 minutes en route to a 30-12 advantage with 8:22 to play in the first half.With the score at 30-17 almost two minutes later, Ace Baldwin Jr. drilled back-to-back 3-pointers before Johnson’s fourth triple of the game and a Qudus Wahab hook shot gave the Nittany Lions a 23-point advantage at 41-18 with 5:04 left on the first-half clock.The Gophers responded with a 12-1 run to close the half with six of those points coming from the free throw line as Minnesota pulled within 12 heading into halftime. Minnesota pulled within single digits at 44-35 less than two minutes into the second half before a Qudus Wahab three-point play put Penn State’s edge back at 12 at 47-35.The Gophers put together an 18-8 run over the next 9:03 as Penn State went cold and Minnesota was suddenly within two at 55-53 with 7:52 to play.A Zach Hicks 3-pointer at 7:22 momentarily halted Minnesota’s momentum, but the Gophers scored the next nine points to take the lead back for the first time since early in the first half at 62-58 with 3:49 to play.Johnson converted a three-point play and Baldwin Jr. followed with a pair of free throws to give the Nittany Lions the lead right back at 63-62 at the 2:44 mark.The Gophers grabbed the lead right back and scored the next seven points to put Penn State in a 69-63 hole with 40 seconds left.Baldwin Jr. hit a pull-up 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 69-66 with 35 seconds to play, but the Gophers closed the game out at the charity stripe to earn the 75-70 win.
GAME NOTES
Puff Johnson tallied his fifth double-digit scoring effort of the season and first since Jan. 20 with his career-high 19 points. He finished 7-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-5 from 3-point range.Penn State shot 51.9 percent (14-27) from the field and 69.2 percent (9-13) from 3-point range in the first half, compared to its second-half marks of 37.9 FG% (11-29) and 20.0 3FG% (2-10).The Gophers owned a 24-9 edge in free throws made.Seventeen Nittany Lion turnovers were turned into 26 Gopher points.
UP NEXT
The Nittany Lions will have a midweek bye before closing out the regular season Sunday night on Senior Night Presented by the Penn State Alumni Association vs. Maryland. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
The 2023-24 Penn State men’s basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.