COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Penn State battled back repeatedly in the second half, but No. 24 Maryland held off the Nittany Lions for the 66-59 win at the Xfinity Center Saturday night in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams. Junior forward Lamar Stevens led all scorers with 19 points and he collected a team-best eight rebounds. Senior guard Josh Reaves had 17 points and freshman guard Rasir Bolton added 15 to aid Penn State's efforts.
"Great Big Ten battle," said Nittany Lion coach Patrick Chambers. "It seems like when we come down here, it's always a one-possession game. The lead changed a few times, the score was tied a few times and Cowan made the plays at the end…I thought defensively we did enough to win the game, but we need another scorer out there. We need someone who is going to make plays for us…It's early in the season and we're going to continue to get better, we'll watch this film, we'll grow, we'll learn, we have a young team too, and we'll keep this process going."
The home team has won each of the last five contests and the six previous Big Ten Conference meetings between the two schools were decided by six points or less.
Penn State was persistent, pulling within one point, 54-53, with 7:40 to play and with 61 seconds left, was down 61-59. Anthony Cowan Jr.'s 3-pointer with 34 seconds left in the game gave Maryland a five-point lead at 64-59 and Eric Ayala added two free throws for the final margin.
The lead traded hands twice early in the opening minute of the second half, but the Terps spun off nine quick points, going 4-4 from the field and went up 41-36 with 4:24 off the clock. Maryland extended its lead to eight, 47-39, off back-to-back baskets by Jalen Smith, but Penn State stormed back with a 9-0 run to go ahead 48-47.
Maryland retook the lead with 9:09 remaining in the game off a Cowan layup and three-point play, 52-50, and he would add six more points with two timely 3-pointers in the final 1:22.
Penn State was up by one, 31-30, going into the locker room after the first 20 minutes. The Terps grabbed a 12-3 lead before Reaves scored four of the Nittany Lions' next five baskets to put Penn State back up by one, 13-12. After ties at 15 and 17, Reaves or Stevens each made three baskets over three minutes to put the Nittany Lions up by eight, 29-21.
The Terps made only one field goal in the final 8:54 of the first half, getting 13 points from the free throw line in that stretch.
Reaves had all 17 of his points in the first half, combining with Stevens (10) for 27 of the Nittany Lions' 31 first-half points. Eleven of Bolton's points came in the second period while Harrar had six, going 3-3 in the paint with two putback baskets during the 9-0 run.
Maryland capitalized on 25 trips to the free throw line for 18 points while Penn State had only six chances from the charity stripe with Bolton going 4-4 from the line. The Nittany Lions had 18 points off 17 Terp turnovers and with 15 points coming off the bench for Penn State to nine for Maryland. The Terps had the advantage on the boards 40-28.
Despite a stretch late in the second half when the Terps were 1-10 from the field, they had a 48.9 field goal percentage from the field for the game, bolstered by a 14-24 performance from the field. The Nittany Lions had 12 steals, their highest total of the 2018-19 season, with Reaves and Wheeler each picking up four. Penn State had only eight turnovers to Maryland's 17.
Jalen Smith led the Terps with 16 points while Bruno Fernando had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Cowan finished with 15 as he and Jalen Smith each had 11 points in the second half.
Penn State returns to the Bryce Jordan Center for its Big Ten Conference home opener at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4 vs. Indiana.
For information or to purchase Penn State men's single-game tickets for the Big Ten Conference home opener or other upcoming home games, visit: GoPSUsports.com/mbbsinglegametix or call 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Keep up to date with the latest information from Coach Chambers and the Nittany Lions on Twitter by following @Coach_Chambers and @PennStateMBB, on Facebook and Instagram at @PennStateMBB.
