PSU Hoops' tournament run ends at hands of Purdue despite late comeback bid
Jaden Ivey showed off his pro-level skills on a pivotal fast-break layup as time wound down in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals as his Purdue Boilermakers topped Penn State 69-61 Friday night.
Penn State played perhaps its best first-half basketball of all season Friday night, but it still wasn’t enough to take a lead into halftime.
The Nittany Lions carried a 10-2 lead into the first media timeout after an 8-0 run that included two buckets from John Harrar and two 3-pointers from Myles Dread. It was a welcome sight after Penn State scored nine total points before the under-16 break over the past two games.
Trevion Williams came off the bench for Purdue and immediately ended the Penn State run. He added a big and-1 shortly after, but the Boilermakers fell victim to three separate scoring droughts that lasted more than two minutes before the under-eight timeout.
After the cold stretches, though, Purdue star Jaden Ivey made his presence felt. He converted five straight points in the paint, including a tough and-1.
Penn State held its slim lead for a few minutes before Purdue’s unconscious shooting simply became too much to overcome. The Boilermakers finished the first half on 9-for-10 shooting and made nine straight.
Purdue went into the break with a 35-31 lead, carried by 50% shooting compared to Penn State’s 42%.
The second half opened with a 6-2 run from Purdue, including two makes from the 7-foot-4 Zach Edey. Purdue stretched its lead out to nine points by the under-16 media timeout.
Penn State’s second-half shooting took a big dip from the first half, too. The deficit stuck around nine points for a while before Eric Hunter Jr. drained a triple to give Purdue its largest lead at 12 points, forcing a coach Micah Shrewsberry timeout.
The Nittany Lions found a number of wide-open looks from beyond the arc, but they couldn’t buy a make, especially Seth Lundy. He was 0-for-7 from the arc and 0-or-8 overall on the night.
Dallion Johnson finally converted a 3-pointer, and Harrar flushed a dunk after a wild possession to cut the lead back to single digits.
Jaheam Cornwall — who has been ice cold from the floor all year long — nailed a huge triple to squeeze it down to six points. Johnson scored in the paint, and Cornwall drilled a second three in a row as the lead shrunk to three.
Sam Sessoms went into the trees on the offensive end and scored a layup over Edey, closing the gap down to one point. Penn State was on a 12-4 run with 6-for-7 shooting before Purdue coach Matt Painter called timeout.
Ivey came out of the timeout drawing a foul and hitting both free throws to retake a three-point lead. Johnson had a good look on the other end from deep but couldn’t hit it. Shrewsberry called timeout with just over a minute to go after a Williams miss.
Penn State couldn’t score, and Ivey displayed his NBA-level athleticism by knifing through four Nittany Lions to pick up a loose ball and score on the other end. Purdue went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line to close it out and secure a trip to the semifinals despite the comeback attempt.
Ivey led all scorers with his 17 points, and he came up big when it mattered most. He tacked on six rebounds and two assists. Edey also had 15 points.
A pleasant surprise for Purdue was guard Brandon Newman, who hadn’t played in over a month and hadn't scored in nearly two months. Newman scored 12 points on the night, including a handful of big shots, including seven points in the big first-half run.
Pickett and Harrar both put on very strong performances again for Penn State, scoring 16 and 15 points, respectively. Harrar ended his collegiate career with a double-double after picking up 12 rebounds. Although he’s a senior, signs have pointed to Pickett returning for a fifth season next year.
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