The loud popping sound coming from State College was Penn State’s March Madness bubble bursting. At the final buzzer Sunday night, the chances of getting an outright bid vanished.
Up 19 at one point in the second half, Penn State fell to Rutgers 59-56.
This game was extremely important for the Nittany Lions. They started to play their best basketball at the most important time of the season in the past couple of weeks. Coming into this game, they were riding a three-game winning streak, including two on the road.
Early on, it looked like Penn State was well on its way to a fourth in a row. They used a 22-4 run to take a 26-9 lead with five minutes left in the first half.
Everything was rolling in the first half. [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] had 11 points and [autotag]Camren Wynter[/autotag] 10 points. They went into the locker room up 31-21.
Then, wheels fell off the wagon in the second half.
After starting with a 9-0 run to push the lead to 19 points, it was all downhill from there. The offense, which is normally so good at home, was dreadful.
Penn State finished the game shooting 37.0% from the field and 27.6% from three. Only seven field goals were made the entire second half, three of which came during the early 9-0 run.
After scoring 11 points in the first half, Pickett was held scoreless the rest of the way. Senior guards [autotag]Seth Lundy[/autotag] and [autotag]Andrew Funk[/autotag] went a combined 2-23 from the floor and 1-18 from three.
Penn State went nine minutes down the stretch without a made field goal, missing the last 14 shots they attempted. The cold stretch was enough for Rutgers to close the gap and escape State College with a win.
Freshman guard [autotag]Derek Simpson[/autotag] led the way for Rutgers with 16 points off the bench. Senior guards [autotag]Cam Spencer[/autotag] and [autotag]Caleb McConnell[/autotag] were also in double figures with 13 and 12 points respectively.
Wynter finished with a team high 16 points for Penn State. Pickett was the only other person in double figures with 11.
It was the worst time of the year to have one of the worst performances all season. Putting it frankly, it was also an unacceptable loss.
Coming off a stretch that put him in All-American contention, Pickett can’t go scoreless in the second half of one of the most important games of the year. He didn’t attempt a shot in the second half. Lundy can’t go 0-11 from three at home in this type of game.
The best players are supposed to step up and make plays when things are difficult. That didn’t happen for this Penn State team on Sunday.
Now, by most accounts, the hopes for an at large bid is almost all but gone.
Head coach [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] said in the postgame press conference that he’s not worried about his team for the remainder of the season, citing the fact there are more games to play.
We’ll see how Penn State responds Wednesday night when they go on the road to face second place Northwestern.
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