Penn State isn’t exactly feeling like they are in the most magical place on Earth after dropping a second straight game in the ESPN Events Invitational in Disney World. The Nittany Lions came up short against Butler in a consolation round game on Friday afternoon, 88-78.
[autotag]Kanye Clary[/autotag] led Penn State with 28 points, a new career-high for the sophomore guard, and [autotag]Ace Baldwin Jr.[/autotag] had 15 points, but Penn State went cold with its shooting to close out the first half. The cold spell allowed Butler to take a 42-39 lead into halftime after Penn State had been up by as many as 9 points.
Butler went on a solid run to start the second half to build a 10-point lead but Penn State climbed back to within three points following a three-pointer by [autotag]Leo O’Boyle[/autotag] to cap a 7-0 run midway through the second half. Butler had one more good run in them to put some separation between them and Penn State, and that allowed the Bulldogs to seize a victory in the ESPN Events Invitational’s consolation side of the weekend tournament bracket.
Final. We’ll wrap up the ESPN Events Invitational Sunday pic.twitter.com/BUFLXDHtrC
— Penn State Men’s Basketball (@PennStateMBB) November 24, 2023
Penn State will play its final game in the ESPN Events Invitational on Sunday. The Nittany Lions will face the loser of the VCU vs. Boise State game in the other consolation game played on Friday night.
Penn State’s final game of the weekend will be played on Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. ET on ESPNU.
Follow Kevin McGuire on Threads, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.