STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State Basketball won a wild one, 65-64 over Maryland on Sunday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center. It was Northwestern’s hero, Camren Wynter, who did it again with another buzzer beating shot to win the game.
This second-half comeback mirrored their second-half collapse to Rutgers just one week ago. At 10-10, Penn State finishes .500 in the conference and in 10th place.
The Nittany Lions will likely find themselves on the right side of the bubble when they wake up Monday.
All that will stand between Penn State and the NCAA Tournament is winning their No. 7 vs No. 10 match-up in the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday. Win. And. In. What day in the Bryce Jordan Center.
With the upper bowl partially empty but most students on spring break, the Bryce Jordan Center hosted the seven Penn State Basketball seniors seniors for their final (scheduled) home game. Ishaan Jagaisi, Michael Henn, Andrew Funk, Camren Wynter, Jalen Pickett, Seth Lundy, and Myles Dread were honored before the game, with only Lundy having the potential of returning next year.
Penn State started hot, with Pickett scoring or assisting on the first four buckets and the Nittany Lions took an early 10-6 lead.
The Lions hit two early three’s and Maryland scored all their points in the paint … both teams on brand early.
A Henn rimmed-in three ebbed the Terrapin run after three straight Penn State Basketball turnovers helped stem the tide but Maryland held a two-point lead after the Penn State bench was given a ‘class A technical foul’. Either way, you could argue it worked as Penn State drew offensive fouls on Maryland two of their next three possessions.
Maryland built a thirteen-point lead with the game at their pace for the first 15 minutes as Penn State packed the inside daring Maryland to shoot threes (Terrapins made 7 of their first 17, 41.1%).
The Nittany Lions missed three free throws (Mahaffey 2, Pickett 1) but a Pickett three-ball at the buzzer took Penn State into the half down 35-22.
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The Nittany Lions cut the lead to 11 three times in the first five minutes, scoring on 5 of 8 possessions but Maryland had an answer each time, scoring the next bucket. Even a Dread three was answered immediately as Maryland HC Kevin Willard called a timeout up 47-35 with 13:43 to go.
An Andrew Funk three from the corner pulled the Nittany Lions to within 10 and with it the BJC crowd and moments later another from Myles dread cut the lead to 7.
Fouls started to mount for the Nittany Lions, however, as Wynter picked up his fourth on an and-1, giving Maryland the 55-45 lead at the under 8 media timeout.
Still playing without a big (and Clary in for Wynter), Maryland smartly tried to go inside, already in the bonus. A Funk three cut the lead to three but a Clary missing two threes in three possessions (since Wynter was out with four fouls) really hurt the comeback changes.
Funk hit another deep three as Penn State Basketball got within 8, their closest of the half. A Dread steal and three brought the roof off the building. Maryland called timeout, now up just 59-54 with 4:12 to go. A Maryland bucket out of the timeout was answered with three Lundy free throws, cutting the lead to 4. A pretty unnecessary foul on the offensive glass gave Maryland two free throws, but they only made one.
Jalen Picket came up with a huge offensive rebound leading to a Lundy layup, cutting the lead to 3.
A wide-open Maryland three clanged off the rim and Funk drained one on the other end to tie the game. Penn State clawed all the way back with 1:24 left in the game as Maryland called their last timeout. Unfortunately, during the timeout, the shot was reviewed as overturned as a two-pointer since Funk’s foot was on the line.
Could Penn State get the crucial stop needed to win the game?
Jahmir Young missed a tough layup, giving Penn State the ball with a chance to take the lead and they did just that. Pickett found a wide-open Wynter under the bucket for their first lead of the half, 63-62 with 42.3 seconds left.
Maryland ran a beautiful pick and slip, getting the easy layup over Pickett but Penn State would have the last shot, down just 1 with 19.2 seconds left.
What ‘more plays than Broadway’ call would Shrewsberry draw up? Maryland sent the hard double at Pickett, who kicked to an open Lundy. The shot drew iron, but wouldn’t you know, the Northwestern hero himself Camren Wynter does it again, putting the rebound back in to win the game.
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NittanyCentral is his second reporting job following the Men's Basketball program. He co-founded and co-hosts the Shots Gotta Fall - The Penn State Basketball Podcast (the premiere, the best, the only) with Steve Travis.
Smith's most proud moment covering the team was seeing the national No. 9 ranking during Pat Chambers' last year. His most embarrassing moment was spending almost a thousand dollars to travel 2,000 miles in 46 hours to watch the Nittany Lions lose to Temple in the 2011 NCAA Tournament (screw you Juan Fernandez).
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