CHICAGO – The Penn State men's basketball team trimmed a 17-point deficit down to one in the final minute, but came up just short of completing the comeback in a 67-65 loss to top-seeded Purdue in Sunday's Big Ten Tournament Championship game at the United Center in Chicago.
The Nittany Lions magical run in the Big Ten Tournament comes to a close after taking down Illinois, Northwestern, and No. 19 Indiana on its path to the second title game in program history.
Seth Lundy and Jalen Pickett were both named to the All-Tournament team for their respective performances in Penn State's tourney run.
The Nittany Lions' senior leaders came up big in the championship game, with 19 points and eight rebounds from Seth Lundy pacing the squad, followed by 14 points, four boards, and four assists from Camren Wynter. All-American Jalen Pickett had 11 points, six rebounds, and four boards.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State got out to an early 4-0 start but a 15-2 run by the Boilermakers had them up by nine at the 9:47 mark of the opening half.
- An 8-2 spurt by the Nittany Lions, including two threes from Myles Dread and a bucket by Camren Wynter, put the Nittany Lions right back in it, down 17-14, with 8:17 remaining in the half.
- Eight in a row by Purdue put them back up by 11 with just under six minutes to play in the opening frame.
- A quick 7-2 run by the Nittany Lions cut the Purdue lead back down to single digits and the Nittany Lions entered the under-4:00 media timeout down 27-21.
- Penn State was able to get within five, but two quick buckets put the Boilermakers up by ten once again as the clock ticked under a minute to play in the first half.
- The Nittany Lions got a bucket from Jalen Pickett with 22 seconds left and entered the break down 35-27. Wynter led the way with seven points in the half, followed by Pickett and Dread with six apiece.
- Following a Mason Gillis three out of the break for Purdue, the Nittany Lions went on a 9-2 scoring run to work the deficit back down to four points at the 16:28 mark of the second half.
- Purdue responded with its own 20-7 stretch to go up by 17 with 6:18 left in regulation.
- The Nittany Lions did not go quietly, storming back with a 15-4 streak to get back within four at the 1:55 mark of the half.
- A bucket from Zach Edey put Purdue back up by six with a minute remaining but a triple by Myles Dread and a bucket by Wynter cut the Boilermaker lead to just a single point with 6.4 seconds left on the clock.
- Purdue knocked down one free throw on a dead ball foul, giving the Nittany Lions 3.3 seconds to run one final play. Penn State was unable to get one last shot off, as they fell 67-65.
GAME NOTES
- The Nittany Lions head into the NCAA Tournament having won eight of their last 10 games.
- With two threes this afternoon, Myles Dread moved into a tie for sixth place in school history for 3-pointers in the Big Ten Tournament with 12.
- Jalen Pickett moved into the second spot in the Penn State Big Ten Tournament record books in both career scoring (120 points) and tournament scoring (2023, 66 points). He also moved into second place in tournament rebounding with 31 in this year's tournament.
- With 19 points in the game this afternoon, Seth Lundy moved into fourth place in Penn State history in Big Ten Tournament career scoring with 103 total points.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry, Myles Dread and Jalen Pickett, Camren Wynter
UP NEXT
- The 2022-23 Nittany Lions will take on seventh-seeded Texas A&M at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. Time and television designations will be announced later tonight.
The 2022-23 Penn State men's basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.