Penn State's magical March ends in 71-66 loss to Texas

Penn State men's basketball saw their incredible run over the last month come to an end on Saturday night in the Round of 32, losing to the second-seeded Texas Longhorns 71-66.

The Nittany Lions after taking a 58-55 lead with 4:48 in the second half thanks to a 10-0 run would see that lead quickly slip away as Texas would go on a 16-8 run over the remainder of the game, ultimately leading to Penn State's defeat on Saturday.

The loss ends one of the best stretches of Penn State men's basketball in recent memory as the Nittany Lions won five of their last six games of the regular season before winning three games in the Big Ten Tournament and coming up just short of a Big Ten Championship against the Purdue Boilermakers. Winning eight of their last 10 would be good enough for the Nittany Lions to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011. They would also pick up their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2001, a 76-59 win over the Texas A&M Aggies.

A valiant effort in the loss, Micah Shrewsberry's program would go down fighting, showing the same never say die attitude that allowed them to go on such a run over the last month of the season.

Ultimately, the Nittany Lions' struggles from beyond the arc in the game were a major reason for their loss. After shooting lights out against Texas A&M, the Nittany Lions were just 8-for-28 in the game. While the Longhorns were 1-for-13 in their three-point attempts, they made up for it by shooting 62% inside the perimeter, they also dominated inside the paint where they picked up 40 of their 71 points.

Additionally, the Nittany Lions' offensive struggles in the first half of Saturday's loss also ended up being too much to overcome. In the first 20 minutes, they shot just 34.6% from the field and made 2-of-13 shots from beyond the arc. Texas, on the other hand, shot 46.9% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes and made four of their last six shots, extending a once 23-20 lead to 31-23 heading into halftime.

In the second half, the Nittany Lions slowly cut down the Longhorns' lead, before using a 10-0 run over 2:22 to take a 58-55 lead with 4:42 remaining in the game. The Nittany Lions' hot hand, however, would go cold after taking the lead, while Texas would immediately go on their own 10-0 run to retake the lead. In the closing minutes, Texas forward Dylan Disu would completely dominate the game, scoring 10 of the Longhorns' final 12 points from the floor. While Penn State continued to fight back in the final minute of the game, Texas would not be denied en route to their 71-66 win.

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