March 3, 2018
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NEW YORK - Penn State senior guard Shep Garner, who wears uniform number 33, led all scorers with a career-best 33 points on Saturday, March 3 (3-3), in his final Big Ten Tournament Game. His 33 points helped Penn State trim the deficit against No. 3 seed Purdue in the semifinals of the 2018 Big Ten Tournament, but Purdue held off the Nittany Lions for a 78-70 win.
Garner's 33 points versus Purdue breaks a Penn State record for single-game scoring in the Big Ten Tournament of 25 points. With his combined points from four years in the 2018 Big Ten Tournament, Garner claimed Penn State's Big Ten Tournament scoring record with 135 points.
Purdue shot 60 percent from the field in the second half, and when combined with a couple of dry spells offensively for Penn State, extended the half time lead to five points in the first five minutes. Purdue built on that lead with a 15-4 run over the next six minutes to go up 59-44.
"That's a great team," said Penn State men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers about Purdue. "They have so many weapons. And obviously Carsen Edwards took over in the second half there. Our guys had an amazing year. I reminded them of that. And I reminded them we have a lot of basketball still to play. And we look forward to that."
Three 3-point field goals, two by Carsen Edwards and one by Dakota Mathias, along with four free throws, pushed the Boilermaker lead to 18 with 3:43 remaining. Carsen Edwards had 27 points with 18 coming off 3-point baskets.
Garner scored 12 of his 18 second-half points in the final 3:34 in the Nittany Lions' 14-4 run to close the game, doing everything possible to keep the game from being his last Big Ten Tournament game.
"I knew I didn't want this to be my last game tonight," Garner said. "And I told my teammates, you know, I'll give it everything I've got to get this win. I gave it everything I had out there. I left it all out there on the
court. And I was filled with emotion because I didn't want to lose. I didn't want to lose, our whole team felt
the same way."
Garner started the scoring for Penn State with his first of his six 3-pointers on the night and had 15 points by halftime. Sophomore forward Lamar Stevens had 14 points and six rebounds.
Tony Carr had 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds. That total matches his nine collected vs. Nebraska in overtime to tie him for 10th on the Penn State list for single-game rebounding in the Big Ten Tournament. Carr's 62 career points in the Tournament tie him for 10th on Penn State's scoring chart.