Valiant Comeback Falls Short as No. 17 Purdue Holds Off Penn State, 99-90, in Overtime

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State battled back from a 17-point deficit in regulation and took an 85-83 lead with 58 seconds to play, but fell in overtime 99-90 to No. 17 Purdue. Boilermaker Carsen Edwards tied the game at 85 and converted a four-point play early in the extra period to give Purdue a six-point lead, 91-85.
 
Edwards, Purdue's junior guard had a game-best 38 points as he and Ryan Cline each combined for 28 of the Boilermakers' 35 second-half points. The Boilermakers were 3-4 from the field and Nojel Eastern was 6-6 from the free throw line in overtime to seal the win.
 
Penn State trailed by as many as eight three times in the second half, but responded repeatedly and outscored Purdue 41-35. The Nittany Lions cut the Purdue lead to one, 67-66, with 8:11 left and then two, 80-78, at the 3:39 mark before tying the game at 83 with 2:12 to play. Junior forward Lamar Stevens found freshman guard Rasir Bolton on the right baseline to put Penn State up 85-83 with just under a minute to play for its only lead of the game.
 
Five Nittany Lions scored in double figures with junior forward Lamar Stevens leading the pack with 24 points. Redshirt junior Mike Watkins recorded his 25th career double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in the effort. Freshmen guards Rasir Bolton and Myles Dread had 18 and 14 points, respectively, for their Big Ten career-best totals.
 
"I think we got better and we continue to get better," said Penn State men's basketball coach Patrick Chambers. "I know our record isn't what we expect or where we want it to be, but the kids are competing and they're playing hard. We got to give Purdue credit. [Ryan] Cline and [Carsen] Edwards, they made some ridiculous shots, really deep shots…So give Matt Painter and his team credit for the way they played tonight. I felt that we played at a very high level and we really persevered."
 
Purdue led by 17 points, 42-25, with 5:23 left in the first half, but Penn State went on a 19-5 run to close the gap to 47-44 keyed by seven points by both Watkins and Stevens. A Boilermaker trey by Aaron Wheeler as the clock expired gave Purdue a 50-44 lead at the break.
 
Edwards scored eight of Purdue's 11 points to start the second half, but the Nittany Lions trimmed their deficit to two points at 53-51 and again at 55-53 over 90 seconds near the first media timeout. The Boilermakers stretched their lead to eight, but Penn State clawed back with four-straight free throws by Stevens and a steal and score by sophomore guard Jamari Wheeler.
 
Sophomore forward John Harrar tipped in a miss and the Nittany Lions were within two with 11:20 to play in regulation. Purdue held the lead, going up by as many as eight, 77-69, on the second of Cline's three-straight 3-point field goals. Dread and Bolton countered with treys within 40 seconds to trail by only three, 80-77.
 
Stevens finished the game with his 24 points and now has 1,420 for his career. He added six rebounds and four assists to his stat line. With his 10 points and six assists, Josh Reaves is 49 points away from the 1,000 career point milestone and 20 rebounds from career number 500.
 
Penn State heads to Northwestern Monday, Feb. 4 for the first game of two away from the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions and Wildcats square off with an 8 p.m. ET game at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The game is set for broadcast on FS1.
 
For information or to purchase Penn State men's single-game tickets for the next home game vs. Michigan on Tuesday, Feb. 12, visit GoPSUsports.com/mbbsinglegametix or call 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.