Penn State Falls Just Short in Back-And-Forth Battle vs. #15 Oregon, 82-81Penn State Falls Just Short in Back-And-Forth Battle vs. #15 Oregon, 82-81
Mark Selders

Penn State Falls Just Short in Back-And-Forth Battle vs. #15 Oregon, 82-81

Nittany Lions erase 14-point deficit, fall in final minute to 15th-ranked Ducks

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men’s basketball team dropped a tough back-and-forth battle with #15 Oregon, 82-81, Sunday afternoon inside the Bryce Jordan Center.

The Nittany Lions rallied back from a 14-point first-half deficit to take a nine-point lead with 6:34 left in the second half. With the game tied at 78 with 1:25 to play, 15th-ranked Oregon made the plays it needed to down the stretch to escape Happy Valley with the one-point victory.

Sophomore Freddie Dilione V led Penn State with a career-best 21 points. Nick Kern Jr. tallied 19 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Puff Johnson finished with 15 points and five rebounds, while Zach Hicks added 14 points and seven boards. The Nittany Lions played without starting point guard and leading scorer Ace Baldwin Jr. who was sidelined due to injury.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • The Nittany Lions raced out to an 8-2 lead just over two minutes into the game on the back of five points from Puff Johnson.
  • The Ducks battled back with the next nine points to pull ahead 11-8 two minutes later, but a Freddie Dilione V jumper at the 15:39 mark halted the Oregon streak. A Nick Kern Jr. steal and score followed to put Penn State back in front, 12-11, with 14:53 left in the first.
  • The Ducks got hot and rattled off a 21-6 run over the next five-plus minutes as Oregon quickly put Penn State in a 14-point hole at 31-18 with 8:11 on the clock.
  • The Ducks’ lead would fluctuate between nine and 14 over the next five minutes as Oregon owned a 41-27 edge with 3:06 left.
  • Penn State’s defense stepped up to hold the Ducks scoreless for the remainder of the half, and limited Oregon to just one field goal in the final 5:10, as the Nittany Lions closed the term on a 6-0 spurt to pull within eight at 41-34 heading into halftime.
  • The Nittany Lions pulled within five following a Yanic Konan Niederhauser layup at the 16:02 mark of the second half that put the score at 47-42.
  • Zach Hicks drilled a triple at the 14:09 mark and Kern Jr. immediately followed with a layup 20 seconds later to cap a 7-0 Penn State run, erase the 14-point deficit, tie the score at 49-49 and force an Oregon timeout at 13:42.
  • D’Marco Dunn made it nine-straight Penn State points with a jumper at 13:10 to give the Nittany Lions their first lead since early in the first half.
  • Oregon was back up three at 56-53, but a Konan Niederhauser jumper was followed by back-to-back Johnson buckets to put Penn State ahead 59-56 with just under 10 minutes to play.
  • The Nittany Lions led by four at 63-59 two minutes later before Dilione V scored five-straight points to give Penn State its largest lead yet at 68-59 with 6:34 to play.
  • Oregon scored seven of the next nine points to pull within three at 71-68 before Dilione V nailed his fourth 3-pointer of the game to pad Penn State’s advantage to 74-68 with 3:43 remaining.
  • The Ducks quickly used a pair of 3-pointers and a layup to knot the score at 76-76 just over a minute later. It was tied again at 78 before Oregon’s Jackson Shelstad hit a go-ahead jumper with 47 seconds to put the score at 80-78.
  • A Nick Kern Jr. layup attempt rimmed out on Penn State’s following possession. Oregon followed with two free throws to put the score at 82-78 with 18 seconds left.
  • Zach Hicks hit a 3-pointer with 2.0 seconds to play to make it 82-81. Penn State’s defense on the inbound pass forced an Oregon timeout and the ensuing inbound pass was deflected by the stout Nittany Lion defense, although Penn State was unable to corral possession and come out with a final shot as they fell 82-81.

GAME NOTES

  • Penn State out-scored the Ducks 47-41 in the second half and shot 56.3 percent from the field in the second term compared to their 36.1 percent first-half shooting clip.
  • The Nittany Lions played without leading scorer Ace Baldwin Jr., who was sidelined due to injury. Baldwin Jr. has contributed 13.9 points, 8.0 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game this season.
  • Freddie Dilione V scored a career-best 21points, besting his previous career high of 16 points that was set against Buffalo on Dec. 1. Dilione notched his 10th double-digit scoring game of the season.
  • Nick Kern Jr. has now scored in double figures in 13 of the last 14 games.
  • Zach Hicks tallied his 10th double-digit scoring game of the season, while Puff Johnson recorded his ninth.
  • Hicks and Kern Jr. led the Nittany Lions with four assists apiece in the absence of Ace Baldwin Jr., who ranks fourth in the country with 8.0 assists per game. 

UP NEXT

  • The Nittany Lions are back on the road Wednesday night when Penn State travels to #16 Michigan State for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff on Big Ten Network.

The 2024-25 Penn State men’s basketball season is presented by Highmark Health. 

Head Coach Mike Rhoades Postgame Press Conference - #15 Oregon

Nick Kern Jr. & Freddie Dilione V Postgame Press Conference - #15 Oregon