Penn State Men's Basketball falls to 12-6 overall and 2-5 in Big Ten conference play. The Nittany Lions came up short to No. 12 Michigan State with a final score of 85-90. The bout was also Ace Baldwin Jr.'s first game back since missing the second half of Illinois and the entirety of Oregon.
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FIRST HALF
Penn State struggled the first half. The Nittany Lions committed nine turnovers. While only forcing Michigan State to three turnovers. While the score was 36-46 at halftime, both teams were playing below average. The Spartans were shooting 44.4% from the field and 23.1% from three. However, Michigan State was 9-11 from the free throw line. Penn State had poor defensive rotations and struggled in transition and second chance points. The Nittany Lions only had four second-chance points compared to the Spartans' 14 points. Penn State also only had six fast break point compared to Michigan State's 12 points.
SECOND HALF
The Nittany Lions continued the cold streak in the beginning of the second half before bring the game close towards the end. Zach Hicks went 4-of-4 in the second half from three. All of which were made with less than five minutes left in the game. Penn State also only committed five turnovers the second half. However, Michigan State only had one turnover the second half. Penn State's late game efforts were not enough and that cost the Nittany Lions an important game.
THE STATS....
Ace Baldwin Jr. returned to the starting lineup and led Penn State in both points and assists. Respectively tallying 20 points and nine assists on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and 11-of-12 shooting from the free throw line. Baldwin Jr. was also 1-of-4 from three, collected three rebounds and committed six turnovers.
D'Marco Dunn also contributed a large portion of Penn State points, adding 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting form the field and 4-of-7 from three. Dunn saw an increase in playing time tonight with Puff Johnson going down with an injury and Nick Kern Jr. earning two fouls in the first half. Dunn finished the game adding five rebounds, two assists, and one steal in 35 minutes of action.
Nick Kern Jr. led the team in rebounds with seven, despite only 21 minutes on the floor. Kern Jr. also added eight points, assists, and one steal.
Yanic Konan-Niederhäuser scored efficiently with 13 points coming on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. Konan-Niederhäuser also added four rebounds, three assist, and three blocks.
Zach Hicks caught fire late in the game and finished with 14 points, on 4-of-7 shooting where all shots were from behind the arc. Hicks also added four rebounds, two assist, and one steal.
Puff Johnson only played six minutes due to an injury. Johnson added one rebound and three points on 1-of-3 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 from three. Johnson was ruled OUT for the game and was seen with medical staff heading to get x-rays.
In 20 minutes, Freddie Dilione V scored five points, went 0-of-4 from three and earned two rebounds, one assists, one steal and one block.
Kachi Nzeh added 16 valuable minutes of the bench with three rebounds and four points on 2-of-2 shooting from the field.
Miles Goodman played two minutes in the first half and grabbed one rebound.
Overall, the Nittany Lions shot 28-of-53 (52.8%) from the field, 10-of-24 (41.7%) from three, and 19-of-25 (76.0%) from the free throw line. Penn State also added 32 rebounds, 20 assists, four blocks, four steals, 14 turnovers, and 22 fouls.
NEXT UP....
Penn State gets a rematch with Rutgers on Monday, January 20 at 6:30 p.m. In the previous meeting, the Scarlet Knights came out on top, 80-76. The Nittany Lions will be looking to get their BLANK win in conferecne play.
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