LINCOLN, Neb. – The Penn State men's basketball team pulled within one point of Nebraska with less than three minutes remaining in the game Thursday night in Pinnacle Bank Arena before the Huskers closed out the game with a key 3-pointer and five free throws for the 70-64 final. The tightly contested game was within six points for the entire night.
Senior guard Josh Reaves had his best outing of the season with 20 points and redshirt junior Mike Watkins recorded a double. Four Nittany Lions scored in double figures with Reaves posting his third career 20-point game, Lamar Stevens and Myles Dread adding 13 each and Watkins with 12 points and a game-best 14 rebounds.
"I thought my team really competed, they played hard, that's what I wanted to see after Sunday night," said Nittany Lion basketball coach Patrick Chambers said. "That was not Penn State basketball last Sunday. We worked really hard in practice and that showed tonight. I was really proud of the way we competed and our guys were dialed in. I thought we got better, even in the loss, we got better tonight."
Reaves hit a 3-pointer with just under three minutes left to play to pull Penn State within one point, 62-61, but Glynn Watson Jr. countered with a trey to put the Huskers back up by four 30 seconds later. The Nittany Lions fouled on the next four Nebraska possessions to try and get the ball back on their offense, but the Huskers made five free throws for the final margin.
Reaves started out strong in the second half, connecting on two 3-pointers to give the Nittany Lions their first lead of the period, 36-35, and then going up 39-36 with his second. After a Nebraska timeout, Copeland made a jumper and Palmer a triple to swing the lead back in Nebraska's favor, 41-39.
Penn State played catch up for the next 2:30, tying the game four times while Stevens and Watkins scored nine points in the stretch. Back-to-back baskets gave Nebraska a four-point lead, 62-58 before Reaves' trey at 2:51 trimmed the lead to just one.
The game saw 10 lead changes and nine ties overall,
Freshman Myles Dread's 3-pointer cut the deficit to one again, 52-51, and Stevens followed with a layup with 6:31 remaining for a slim 58-57 Nebraska lead, but two layups by Glynn Watson Jr pushed the Huskers to a 62-57 lead. Reaves' next basket went down before defying gravity and popped out, keeping Nebraska by five with 5:11 to play.
Reaves and Watson had traded treys near the end of the first half. Reaves' triple put Penn State ahead 31-30 with 2:17 until the break and gave the senior his 11th point of the night. Watson's trey put the lead back in the Huskers' hands, 33-31, which held until the half.
The Nittany Lions started the game 2-7 from the field, but recovered, going 6-8 midway through the first half with a stretch of 50 percent shooting before the end of the half. Penn State finished the game at 36.2 percent from the field and had 17 second-chance points to only four for Nebraska.
Penn State dominated on the boards with a season-high 46 rebounds to Nebraska's 32, but the Huskers scored 11 points off eight total Nittany Lion turnovers after committing only three in the first half.
The Hukers' leading scorer Isaiah Roby had 22 points on the night and nine rebounds, eight in the second half. Watson scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half off 6-10 shooting from the field with two 3-pointers.
Fans are encouraged to wear white as the Nittany Lions return to the Bryce Jordan Center for a 4:30 p.m. Sunday game vs. No. 6/5 Michigan State. The game is also the annual Team Ream game with a portion of every single-game ticket sold benefitting the organization.
For information or to purchase Penn State men's single-game tickets, 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.
