Penn State loses to Michigan, Ohio State

NEW YORK — At the first ever “Big Ten Hoops Super Saturday” game at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 30, the Penn State Nittany Lions lost 79-72 to the Michigan Wolverines. With the loss, Penn State dropped back to .500, with an overall record of 11-11, a neutral site record of 1-2 and a conference record of 2-7. The Nittany Lions stand at 12th in the Big Ten Conference Standings. The Michigan Wolverines improved to 17-5 on the season and are fourth in the Big Ten.

Penn State had three starters with double figures in the game. Forward Brandon Taylor lead the scoring charge with a team-high 24 points, while guard Shep Garner and forward Payton Banks scored 22 and 11, respectively. Taylor had three assists, Garner had four assists and Banks added two. Freshman guard Isaiah Washington also tossed in five points for the game.

As a team, Penn State shot much better from the field in the second half than the first half. The Nittany Lions supplied a 48.6 field goal percentage in the second half (18-37), compared to a 32.0 percent field goal clip in the first half (8-25). Michigan earned a 48.1 field goal percentage (13-27) in the first half, and recorded 42.9 percent (12-28) in the second.

Penn State and Michigan were even in “points in the paint,” with each team scoring 34. Michigan had 12 points off turnovers, 12 fast break points and seven second-chance points. Penn State capitalized on points that included nine off turnovers, five fast break and eight second-chance.

Penn State totaled eight bench points on the game, with five of them coming from Washington. Freshman forward Deividas Zemgulis had the others for Penn State.

Penn State outscored Michigan in the second half, 46-41, after being outscored during the first half.

Collectively, Penn State totaled a 3-point percentage of 25 in the first half, shooting 3-12, and in the second half, 35.3 percent, shooting 6-17. The Wolverines did better in the first half, earning 35.7 percent in 3-point shooting, but made only one their six second-half 3-point attempts, for just a 16.7 percentage.

Ohio State 66, Penn State 46

Penn State dropped a tough conference game against the Big Ten rival Ohio State, 66-46, at Value City Arena.

In the first half, Penn State shot 36.7 percent from the field. Ohio State shot 44.4 percent from the field in the first half. Penn State had shot 12.5 percent from three-point range in the first half of the game. On the other hand, the Buckeyes countered with a 50.0 percent three-point range percentage in the first half, draining six three-pointers.

Penn State’s frontcourt carried the load for them throughout the contest. Forward Brandon Taylor had a team-leading 11 points in 32 minutes, shooting 5-16 from the field. The senior forward shot 20 percent from behind the arc, shooting 1-5. Sophomore guard Payton Banks added nine points, shooting 40 percent from the field (4-10). Forward Julian Moore had two points in 15 minutes played.

Penn State outscored Ohio State in the paint, 32-22. The Nittany Lions had 12 points off turnovers, while Ohio State had 15 points off turnovers. Second chance points were hard to come by, as both teams had a combined eight points; Penn State had two 2nd chance points, whereas Ohio State had six 2nd chance points. With fast break points, the Nittany Lions collected ten points, two more than Ohio State’s eight.

For Ohio State, their largest lead in the game was 23 with 1:51min left in the 2nd half and game. They outscored Penn State 33-26 in the first half and outscored Penn State 33-20 in the second half.

Buckeye Forward Keita Bates-Diop shot 8-14 from the field and 4-7 from three-point range. He led his team with 22 points in 30 minutes played. Another Ohio State Buckeye who played well was forward Jae’Sean Tate, who collected 15 points in 28 minutes played.