Michigan foils Penn State’s Garden rally

Shep Garner kickstarted the comeback.

Garner nailed an NBA-range 3-pointer off a pass from the inside by Brandon Taylor, then raced down the floor and split a pair of Michigan defenders for a transition layup to help slice a 17-point deficit to 10 points in a two-minute span.

With the momentum shifting, Michigan called a timeout. With the Nittany Lions suddenly on the attack, Taylor waved his arms to pump up the Penn State fans at Madison Square Garden.

Garner stayed hot, canning back-to-back 3-pointers to pull his team within eight points. A 3 by Davis Zemgulis brought the Nittany Lions faithful to life without any urging from the players on the court. It was a five-point game with just less than five minutes to play.

But the Wolverines responded, moving ahead by nine 38 seconds later after a fast-break bucket, and held off Penn State for a 79-72 win Saturday afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader with both schools’ men’s basketball and hockey programs.

Michigan finished just 6 for 20 (30 percent) from 3-point range — well below its averages of nearly 11 3s per game at a 41.7 percent clip. But the Wolverines, who went 14 for 25 from long range in their first matchup with Penn State, found other ways to win.

Penn State coach Patrick Chambers called fast-break points the difference in the game as Michigan outscored the Nittany Lions 12-5.

“The fast-break points killed us,” Chambers said.

Penn State’s slow start didn’t help, either.

Michigan took control early and maintained that lead throughout the game, much like Wisconsin did in its win over Penn State more than a week ago. On Saturday, Michigan built a 10-point lead during the first half and took a 38-26 lead into halftime after a 3-pointer by Zak Irvin at the buzzer.

“That was a big shot in this game,” Michigan coach John Beilein said.

And like the Nittany Lions did against the Badgers, they put together a late comeback. This time, Penn State trailed 60-43 with less than nine minutes to play.

Taylor, who finished with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds, started the rally with a short jumper. He then found Garner sitting behind the NBA arc for a 3-pointer. And Garner pushed the ball down the floor on the next possession, attacking the rim with Michigan’s Aubrey Dawkins and Ricky Doyle waiting to stop him.

Dawkins tried to take a charge, and Doyle tried to defend Garner. Garner split them and finished the layup to make it a 10-point game with 7:43 left.

The Penn State sophomore guard was a game-time decision Saturday after injuring his ankle in a loss to Ohio State on Monday.

“His foot looks banged up, bruised and battered,” Chambers said. “He got here early, wasn’t sure if we were gonna have him, and I was really proud of him to show his teammates that he’s going to gut it out.”

Garner scored 22 points in 37 minutes.

He scored 17 of those points in the second half after his 3-point shooting slump continued early Saturday. Garner was 3 for 18 from beyond the arc in the team’s previous four games, and he went 1 for 5 from long range in the first half.

Garner finished 7 for 18 from the field and 5 for 12 from deep, including a pair of 3s after Penn State’s first run. Michigan rebuilt its lead to 14 points before Garner hit two 3s and Zemgulis knocked down another to bring Penn State within 64-59 with 4:48 left and elicit the loudest roar of the day from the Nittany Lions fans.

But again, Michigan had an answer.

Duncan Robinson finished a left-handed layup to generate a reaction from the Michigan fans. Payton Banks missed a 3, leading to a collective sigh from the Penn State fans and setting up a transition layup for Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman off a pass by Derrick Walton Jr.

“Coach always talks about running the floor,” Abdur-Rahkman said, “so I wanted to get down the floor as fast as I could and get an easy layup.”

It pushed Michigan ahead by nine, and though Penn State kept battling and pulled within six in the final minute, the Nittany Lions couldn’t catch the Wolverines.

“Penn State wants good basketball and that’s exciting to me and our future for this program,” Chambers said. “So it was a great stage for us to be on. It was exciting for our guys, exciting for our staff, exciting for our program, and we’re going to be on this stage again.”

Notes: Irvin finished with 20 points to lead Michigan. Abdur-Rahkman had 15, and Walton Jr. had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Mark Donnal added 10 points for the Wolverines. ... Banks scored 11 points for Penn State. ... Michigan had 13 assists and seven turnovers. Penn State finished with 13 assists and 11 turnovers. ... Garner had four assists and zero turnovers.

This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 2:27 PM with the headline "Michigan foils Penn State’s Garden rally."