Penn State men’s basketball (7-14, 0-10 Big Ten) welcomed No. 17 Purdue (15-6, 8-2 Big Ten) to the Bryce Jordan Center on Thursday night. After a slow start, the Nittany Lions played an impressive game against the visiting Boilermakers but ultimately lost in overtime.

How It Happened

Carsen Edwards got the scoring going with a deep three to give the Boildermakers the early lead. Edwards started the evening 3-3 from beyond the arc, pushing Purdue out to an 11-5 advantage.

Threes from Myles Dread and Lamar Stevens tied things up at 11-11. At the first media timeout, though, the Nittany Lions trailed 16-11 with 15:02 remaining in the first half.

The Boilermakers continued to make it rain from three, going on an 13-1 run with deep field goals from Edwards and Cline. By the time the second media timeout came around, the Nittany Lions had failed to score a field goal in 4:32. Purdue led 28-14 with 11:26 to play in the half.

Mike Watkins started to come alive for Penn State late in the half, scoring five points in a matter of minutes to bring Penn State within 12 points with 4:08 remaining. In fact, the Nittany Lions went on a 12-2 run to make it just 42-37 in favor of the visitors.

Pat Chambers squad was on fire over the last few minutes of the half, hitting five of seven field goals en route to making it a 47-44 game with just seconds left in the half. Aaron Wheeler threw up a prayer from well beyond the three-point line as time expired that he banked in to give Purdue a 50-44 lead at the intermission. Edwards led all scorers with 20 points at the half, and Stevens led the Nittany Lions with 10.

The Nittany Lions looked good out of the break as Lamar Stevens and John Harrar were able to get to the line, and Rasir Bolton hit a three to bring Penn State within two. At the first media timeout in the half, the Nittany Lions trailed 58-53 after Edwards hit a near-impossible three to bring his scoring total to 25.

Jamari Wheeler stole a pass and finished at the other end to make it just 65-61 before Kyle McCloskey drew his second charge of the game to give the Nittany Lions some more momentum with 11:38 remaining in the contest.

Josh Reaves finished inside against Matt Haarms to make it just a one-point game, but Haarms answered back with a mid-range jumper — Penn State seemed unable to break through no matter how close it was. With 4:14 to play, the Nittany Lions trailed 80-77.

Dread tied it all up at 81-81, hitting a deep three with under three minutes to play. Rasir Bolton gave the Nittany Lions their first lead of the game on a midrange jumper with 54.1 seconds remaining. Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, they couldn’t score on the final possession of the game and went to overtime tied up at 85-85.

Overtime was all Purdue. The Boilermakers scored eight-straight to open the extra period and ultimately outscored the Nittany Lions 14-5 after regulation ended. Carsen Edwards finished with a game-high 38 points.

Takeaways

• Carsen Edwards looked like a professional amongst a group of amateurs in the first half. His stats showed the ease with which he was scoring — and he looked unstoppable in the process.
• Penn State’s defense really clamped down on Edwards in the second half. Apart from making a couple of highly-contested baskets, he didn’t get many looks at the hoop.
• Penn State men’s basketball is pure pain.

What’s Next

Pat Chambers’ squad will head to Evanston, Illinois for a matchup with the Northwestern Wildcats on Monday, February 4.