Penn State drops fourth in a row, falling to Bucknell 76-67
The Penn State Nittany Lions fell to Bucknell at the Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday afternoon 76-67 to mark the fourth straight loss after previously starting the Mike Rhoades era 4-0.
Penn State allowed the Bison to hang around for much of the first half before going on a 9-0 run that leaked into the first two minutes of the second half, taking a 37-27 lead at the 18:38 mark. Bucknell responded by climbing all the way back to make it a 43-43 game seven minutes later.
The Nittany Lions held a 62-61 lead with 3:09 to play and were primed to escape Saturday's tilt with a win before the Bison used a late-game surge to spring the upset. The Bison outscored Penn State 16-5 over the final three minutes of the game behind seven points from forward Noah Williamson to hand Penn State its fourth defeat in as many games.
Perimeter shooting proved to be a detriment on Saturday with the Nittany Lions going just 4-19 from beyond the arc while Bucknell was 10-21 from three-point range and 58% overall on the afternoon. They made up for that mark by going 17-22 from the charity stripe, but it was not enough to fight off the Bison.
Qudus Wahab and Ace Baldwin Jr. helped keep Penn State afloat despite the loss, as Wahab put together his best showing as a Nittany Lion, scoring a season-high 18 points on 7/8 shooting and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds in the defeat. Baldwin Jr. provided a spark off the bench for the second time this season, pouring in 17 points on 5-10 shooting from the field, but was 0-3 from deep and had three turnovers on the day.
Only one other Nittany Lion scored in double-figures, which was Zach Hicks, who posted a line of 13 points and seven rebounds on an efficient 4-6 shooting clip, including three of Penn State's four connections from three-point range.
Puff Johnson and Kanye Clary both struggled from the field, as the duo shot a combined 4-15 and were well under their season averages in the scoring department.
Penn State fell victim to strong showings from Bucknell's Nick Williamson and Jack Forrest. The tandem combined for 45 points for the Bison, shooting 17-27 from the field and 6-10 from three-point range.
Mike Rhoades' squad now sits at 4-4 after an encouraging start to the season, with back-to-back losses against non-high major teams with pedestrian records this year. It doesn't get any easier for Penn State either, who will look to get back into the win column on Wednesday in its Big Ten opener on the road against Maryland before hosting Ohio State a week from Saturday.
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