Penn State men’s basketball squanders big first-half lead in 58-57 loss to Michigan

STATE COLLEGE — The Penn State men’s basketball team couldn’t miss against Michigan early Tuesday night, and after spending most of the season running a plodding offense content on holding the ball and slowing down the pace, it appeared the Nittany Lions were ready to put their foot on the gas against the Wolverines.

Cold-shooting, though, became a theme for both teams, and an early Penn State lead disappeared. Ultimately, Penn State was locked into the type of game that’s been the norm this season, a tight, low-scoring affair with little room for error. And once again, the Nittany Lions made just a few more mistakes than their opponent in a defeat.

Michigan overcame a double-digit deficit late in the first half and downed Penn State, 58-57, at the Bryce Jordan Center in another game that the Nittany Lions could rue down the stretch of the season.

Michigan center Hunter Dickinson controlled the paint and finished the game with a game-high 19 points and 15 rebounds, while guard Eli Brooks, a Spring Grove native, added 16 for the Wolverines (12-9, 6-5 Big Ten).

Penn State (9-11, 4-8) was led by guard Jalen Pickett’s 14, while guard Sam Sessoms provided 13 points off the bench. After quick starts, though, both ball handlers faded and finished the game a combined 11-of-33 shooting from the field.

Penn State avoided the slow start that plagued it at Wisconsin on Saturday night when the Nittany Lions shot 1 of 20 to begin the game. Penn State made four of its first six shots, including a 3-pointer from guard Myles Dread. Forward John Harrar had success inside against Dickinson with a nice up-and-under and then a baby hook in the lane for his first points.

Michigan used a short 7-0 run to take a three-point lead approaching the midway point of the first half, and the Wolverines held serve as Penn State tried to erase it. Soon enough, the Nittany Lions did.

Penn State used an 11-0 run to take a 27-19 lead, and then a couple layups by Sessoms and a 3-pointer by Pickett moved it all the way out to 34-23 with 3:56 left.

But after Pickett’s basket caused Michigan coach Juwan Howard to call timeout, Penn State went cold. The Nittany Lions didn’t score again, and the Wolverines closed the half on an 11-0 run to make it a 34-34 tie at the half.

Penn State closed the half in particularly ugly fashion. Coming out of a timeout with 25 seconds left, Pickett and guard Dallion Johnson had a miscommunication that led to Pickett throwing the ball out of bounds with 6 seconds left. Michigan took advantage with forward Brandon Johns Jr. making a layup through contact at the rim to tie the game at the break.

Penn State’s drought continued well into the second half. After Pickett’s 3-pointer with less than 4 minutes left in the first half, the Nittany Lions didn’t score again until Dread hit a corner 3-pointer with 13:50 remaining in the game. That drought covered more than 10 minutes, and it allowed Michigan to turn an 11-point deficit into a four-point lead, thanks to a 15-0 run.

At the same time, the Penn State defense still turned in a relatively stout performance against Michigan, and the Nittany Lions’ hot start helped buoy them when the shots stopped falling. The Wolverines got the lead out to six when guard Caleb Houstan made a free throw, but Johnson responded with a 3-pointer and Pickett got into the lane for a layup.

Penn State worked into a tie with less than 4 minutes remaining when Harrar hit two free throws to make it a 48-48 game.

But Dickinson made two free throws and Brooks made a jumper to put Michigan’s lead back out to four. Penn State had too many empty possessions in the final stretch, and it proved costly in the defeat. Dread hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but with Michigan leading by 4, it was futile.

Neither team shot well after the initial flurry. When Pickett hit his 3-pointer to give Penn State a 34-23 lead, the Nittany Lions were 15 of 22 from the field. For the first of the game, they shot 7 of 33.

Michigan started the game shooting 7 of 14, and the Wolverines went 10 of 40 the rest of the way. Michigan got a significant boost on the glass from Dickinson, who had eight offensive rebounds, and the Wolverines finished the game with 19 second-chance points.

Turning points: Penn State’s scoreless stretch to end the first half and begin the second half gave Michigan the opportunity to get back into the game before halftime and assert itself early after the break.

Player of the game: Penn State had no answer for Dickinson’s size underneath. The 7-foot-1 sophomore was a tough matchup for the 6-foot-9 Harrar and the 6-foot-7 Jevonnie Scott, along with the slight 6-foot-8 Jalanni White.

Notable stat: Penn State didn’t take its first free throws of the game until there was 3:37 left in the game. At that point, Michigan had already taken 14 free throws and made 11. The Nittany Lions entered the night averaging 13.3 free throws per game. They finished 6 of 7 from the line, while Michigan was 19 of 22.

Surprising performance: Scott got big minutes off the bench in forward Greg Lee’s absence. He didn’t play in the past two games, and his previous outing at Indiana on Jan. 26 lasted just 3 minutes. But Scott played 10 minutes, and while he missed both of his shot attempts, he added some defensive energy to frustrate Dickinson underneath.

Lineup notes: Coach Micah Shrewsberry stuck with the same starting lineup for the third straight game with Pickett, Johnson and Dread as the guards and Seth Lundy and Harrar as the forwards. Penn State entered Tuesday with a 1-1 record using these starting five.

The absence of Lee, though, was felt more in the rotations off the bench. White was the first forward off the bench when he entered, along with Sessoms, after the under-16 media timeout in the first half. White and Sessoms replaced Dread and Johnson in the lineup.

Dorsey was the third player off the bench for Penn State in the first half, while Scott checked in shortly after. Without Lee, Penn State rotated through all of its big men in the early going. Late in the first half, guard Jaheam Cornwall checked into the game, which meant that Penn State went 10-deep in the first 20 minutes.

What’s next: Penn State returns to the road at Minnesota (11-9, 2-9) on Saturday night. The Golden Gophers play at Nebraska on Wednesday night. The matchup at Williams Arena is scheduled to tip at 8:30 p.m. ET, and it will be televised on Big Ten Network. The teams will play each other twice in three games because the Jan. 19 matchup was rescheduled for Feb. 17 because of positive COVID-19 test results within the Minnesota program.

Daniel Gallen covers Penn State for PennLive. He can be reached at [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Follow PennLive’s Penn State coverage on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.