UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball team used a 33-15 run in the game's final 13 minutes to erase a 14-point deficit and rally to defeat #19 Michigan State 62-58 Tuesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center.
The Nittany Lions only led the game for a total of 2:07, trailing by as much as 14 with 13:20 to play in the second half. The 33-15 game-closing run was cemented with a 12-4 Penn State advantage in the final 3:04 as the Nittany Lions clawed back for first-year head coach Micah Shrewsberry's first head coaching victory over a ranked team.
Junior Seth Lundy led all scorers with a game-high 17 points behind five 3-pointers. Graduate student John Harrar had a monster game for his seventh double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-high 16 boards. Senior Jalen Pickett rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Nittany Lions with 10 points while adding four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- It was a slow shooting start for both teams with just a slight 14-9 Michigan State advantage through the first two media timeouts.
- Penn State then used a 7-2 run to get within two, 18-16, before the Spartans added a mid-range jumper before the under-8 media timeout for the four-point lead.
- The Nittany Lions then used another 8-2 run over the final six minutes of the first half to take their first lead. A three from the top of the key by Pickett and two free throws put the Nittany Lions in front 24-22, but the Spartans tied it at 24-24 headed into the locker room.
- Michigan State began the second stanza hot with a quick 8-0 run to force a Penn State timeout two minutes in.
- The Spartans jumped out to their biggest lead of the game at 43-29 with 13:20 left before the Nittany Lions scratched back on an 8-0 run over a two-minute span to get back within single digits, 43-37, at the under-12 media timeout.
- Lundy's fourth triple of the night capped an 11-0 run to put Penn State within a possession and a second-chance layup by Jalanni White made it a one-point game at 45-44.
- Lundy drilled another three to make it 54-53 Spartans before a buzzer-beating jumper gave the Nittany Lions the one-point lead with just over 90 seconds left in regulation.
- Penn State extended its lead to 58-54 with a bucket and an and-one from Harrar with 35 seconds left before Michigan State got a basket back and called timeout with the shot clock turned off at 23 seconds.
- With the crowd on their feet, the Nittany Lions got the defensive stops they needed and closed the game from the charity stripe for the huge 62-58 win over the #19 Spartans.
GAME NOTES
- The Nittany Lions earned their first win over a top-20 team since Jan. 30, 2021 when Penn State defeated #14/13 Wisconsin 81-71 at the BJC.
- Penn State has now defeated at least one top-25 ranked team at the Bryce Jordan Center for the seventh-straight season.
- It marks head coach Micah Shrewsberry's first-career head coaching victory over a top-25 ranked team.
- Penn State rallied back from a 14-point deficit to win. It's the largest comeback of the season for the Nittany Lions, who have now come back from 10+ down to win three times this year (vs. Cornell, at Northwestern).
- The Penn State defense held the Spartans 15 points below their season scoring average of 73.3 points per game.
- Penn State held the slight advantage in the paint, 20-16, holding the advantage in the paint in now seven of the last nine games, despite having the smallest roster by height in the Big Ten as ranked by KenPom's average height metric.
- Graduate student John Harrar registered his seventh double-double of the season, finishing with 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
- Harrar's 16 boards are the first 15-plus rebound game for a Nittany Lion since Mike Watkins had 17 against Nebraska (2/1/20).
- Harrar has had 10 games this season with double-digit rebounds.
- Junior Seth Lundy drilled five 3-pointers to finished with a team-best 17 points. Eleven of his points came in the second half.
- Senior Sam Sessoms reached the 1,600 career points mark and now has 1,604 after nine points against Michigan State. Sessoms finished with nine points, seven rebounds and three assists.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry
John Harrar and Seth Lundy
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions face Minnesota for the second time in five days Thursday afternoon when Penn State hosts the Gophers at 4 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
The 2021-22 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.