Penn State men's basketball blows huge lead, falls to Ole Miss in Brooklyn

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Even amid the chaos of a blown 21-point second-half lead against Ole Miss, Penn State still had its chance to erase all the concern with one shot.

But, in a nightmarish second half, even that went awry. Izaiah Brockington threw an inbounds pass to Ole Miss’s KJ Buffen, and Myreon Jones committed a foul that led to two Rebel free throws and a 74-72 lead.

Myles Dread’s desperate last second effort from 3-point range never had a chance, and the Nittany Lions suffered a crushing defeat by the same score for their first loss of the year. They’ll play Syracuse, which was blown out by Oklahoma State, on Friday in the consolation game of the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament in Brooklyn.

Penn State watched as the Rebels sunk six second-half 3-pointers, unable to match Ole Miss’s hot shooting.

Dread, entering the game as a 39 percent shooter from beyond the arc, failed to connect from 3-point range during the game, and the Nittany Lions made just five of their 19 attempts.

The Nittany Lions shot only 35 percent from the field in the second half as the dunks and lobs in transition that had been available in the first half dried up.

That wasted a phenomenal effort from Mike Watkins, who tied a career best with eight blocks to go along with 18 points and 12 rebounds, finishing two blocks shy of a triple-double.

Lamar Stevens finished with 22 points for Penn State despite missing much of the first half due to foul trouble. Penn State wasn’t able to get him a shot in the final moments, though, and left with a loss that will surely sting.

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