Penn State men’s basketball drops close 58-57 game at home to Michigan
Penn State men’s basketball lost a tight home matchup Tuesday night against the Michigan Wolverines, 58-57, at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Both teams started off well offensively with the Nittany Lions and Wolverines making tough shots while also generating open looks for shooters. The result was a 19-16 lead for Michigan with both teams playing well on both ends of the court.
Penn State responded to the three-point deficit by going on a big run over the next eight minutes. The Lions outscored their opponents 18-4 over that stretch, relying on senior guard Sam Sessoms and the team’s 3-point shooting to build the lead.
Sessoms used his quickness to beat his man off the dribble, getting to the rim and finishing with touch off the glass over larger defenders. The separation he created forced Michigan to bring help from the wing, opening up shooters on the perimeter during the stretch.
The Wolverines responded right after the under-four media timeout going on a 10-0 run to close the half in which the Lions couldn’t get any of the looks they found success with in the previous eight minutes.
Michigan’s 7-foot-1 center Hunter Dickinson led the game at the half with 13 points, while Jalen Pickett led Penn State with 10 points.
The start of the second half was the inverse of the start of the first half, with neither team getting open shots or making much of anything. Michigan scored the only two points in the first 4:02 of the half with the Nittany Lions moving deliberately with the ball and not getting much to show for it.
The two teams continued to lean into their defense as Michigan worked to extend its lead to five with 11:20 in the half thanks to Dickinson’s work on the offensive glass.
The game tightened from there as the teams continued struggling offensively. Penn State continued to keep it close, eventually tying it up at 48 with just under four minutes on the clock, thanks to two free throws from senior center John Harrar.
Michigan was able to take over from there and close out the victory, dropping Penn State to 9-11 overall and 4-8 in the Big Ten.
Player of the game
Michigan center Hunter Dickinson: The Nittany Lions did relatively well against the 7-foot-1 center for Michigan but Dickinson was able to clean up his own mess enough to be a true difference-maker in the game. While he only made 6 of his 20 field goals in the game, he still managed to finish with 19 points. That was, in large part, due to his ability to pull down his misses and immediately go back up with another shot attempt. He finished the game with eight offensive rebounds and dominated the glass on his own shot attempts. He used his length on defense and the glass on that end of the court to tally four blocks and seven defensive rebounds. Dickinson proved to be an issue for Penn State throughout Tuesday night’s game.
Stat of the game
7: That’s how many field goals Penn State made in the final 23 minutes and 55 seconds of the game. The Nittany Lions’ offense started the game well, making 15 shots on the team’s first 22 attempts but went ice cold from there. They attempted 33 shots in that time frame, some of which were open, but few of which went in. The Lions’ offense has moved slowly all year, using most of the shot clock to find open looks but on Tuesday night they couldn’t get much to fall their way. The team has been a defense-first team this year but it’s still difficult to win when your offense goes as cold as it did for most of the game against the Wolverines.
Up next
at Minnesota: The Nittany Lions go back on the road for their next game, another night game against a conference opponent. They’ll face off with the Minnesota Golden Gophers Saturday night as both teams fight to improve their seeding for the Big Ten Tournament.
The Gophers entered Tuesday night as the No. 98 team in the KenPom rankings with an 11-9 overall record. Conference play has been tough sledding for Minnesota, however, with all nine of the team’s losses coming against Big Ten opponents. The Gophers’ only wins in conference came against Rutgers at home and Michigan on the road.
