UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men’s basketball (15-15, 5-14) fell to the 16th-ranked Maryland Terrapins (22-7, 12-6) by a score of 68-64 on Saturday afternoon in the Bryce Jordan Center.
In a close contest where no team led by more than eight points, Penn State trailed by two within the final minute. A jump shot by Rodney Rice was the difference maker with 17 seconds remaining to put Maryland up by four. The Terrapins helped force 21 PSU turnovers and only gave up the ball eight times.
Ace Baldwin Jr. led the way for the Nittany Lions with 18 points, five rebounds and three assists. D’Marco Dunn chipped in 14 points and seven boards, while Freddie Dilione V added 12 points six rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Maryland jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead on a pair of back-to-back three pointers by Gillespie. Penn State scored seven of the next nine points on a three from Zach Hicks and two jumpers from Yanic Konan Niederhauser and Dilione to make it 8-7 in favor of the Terrapins at the 15:37 mark.
- After the Terps strung together a 10-4 run to take an 18-11 lead, a three by Hicks, a layup from Kern and a jumper from Dilione tied the game up at 18 with 10:34 to go in the first stanza.
- The Nittany Lions took their first lead with 7:31 remining in the half when Dunn connected on a three and then converted a pair of layups to put the home team up by five.
- Despite Maryland trimming the PSU lead to one, the Lions maintained being ahead for the remainder of the half, going up by as much as eight with 1:17 to go, and heading into the locker room with a 36-30 lead.
- Maryland used an 18-8 run to open the second half and capitalized on six Penn State turnovers in the first five-plus minutes to take a 48-44 lead.
- After Kern trimmed it to 48-46, Penn State was held scoreless for the next 4:12, but held Maryland in check on defense. Niederhauser stopped the drought with a free throw and Dilione followed with a fastbreak layup to make it 50-49 in favor of Maryland with 9:46 remaining.
- The Terrapins put together an 11-6 run for the next 5:07 until Baldwin sunk a three to make it 61-58. A dunk by Derik Queen on the ensuing possession gave Maryland a five point lead at the 4:04 mark.
- The Nittany Lions scored six of the next nine, all on free throws from Baldwin (4) and Dunn (2) to knock Maryland’s lead down to 66-64 with 1:39 remaining.
- That score remained the same down to the 17-second mark, when Maryland’s Rodney Rice made a jumper to increase the lead to four. Baldwin missed a three on the other end and Maryland rebounded and dribbled it out to earn the 68-64 win.
GAME NOTES
- Penn State finished the 2024-25 regular season 11-4 in games played at the Bryce Jordan Center.
- The Nittany Lions’ largest lead was eight points at the 1:17 mark in the first half. Maryland’s largest lead was seven with 12:13 to go in the first half.
- Penn State outscored Maryland in bench points, 4-0.
- Zach Hicks finished with a season-high nine rebounds and it marked his most rebounds in a Big Ten game.
- D’Marco Dunn grabbed a career-best eight rebounds, besting his previous mark of seven at Rutgers last season.
- Zach Hicks finished with four assists in the game, matching his personal best for assists in a Big Ten game.
UP NEXT
- The Nittany Lions close out the regular season with a contest at No. 11 Wisconsin next Saturday, March 8. Tip is slated for 1 p.m. on Peacock.
The 2024-25 Penn State men’s basketball season is presented by Highmark Health.