No. 10 seed Penn State men’s basketball (23-14, 10-10 Big Ten) couldn’t complete a late-run upset against No. 2-seeded Texas (28-8, 12-6 Big 12) after a 71-66 loss Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

Five Nittany Lions reached the double-figure mark with Camren Wynter leading the way after a 16-point performance. Andrew Funk and Myles Dread each dropped 12 as they combined 6-for-17 from three-point land. Jalen Pickett and Seth Lundy rounded it out with 11 each.

Dylan Disu had a night after a 28-point, 10-rebound performance for the Longhorns. Sir’Jabari Rice and Marcus Carr also reached double figures with 13 and 10, respectively.

How It Happened

Micah Shrewsberry rocked with the same starting five that led them to victory against Texas A&M on Thursday night.

Tonight's starting against the Longhorns:

SG: Cam Wynter
SG: Andrew Funk
PG: Jalen Pickett
SF: Seth Lundy
C: Kebba Njie

— Onward Sports (@OnwardStSports) March 19, 2023

Kebba Njie won the tip, but it was Timmy Allen who scored first with a make from the charity stripe. Both squads traded a couple of buckets, but a pair of field goals from Tyrese Hunter and Marcus Carr kept the Longhorns in control through the first five minutes of action.

A minute following the first media timeout, Camren Wynter knocked down a pull-up jumper. Two minutes of play later, Dylan Disu found a wide-open Timmy Allen in the paint that cut a nearly four-minute scoring drought for Texas. After eight minutes of play, the Longhorns led the Nittany Lions 11-6.

Myles Dread knocked down the first three-pointer for Penn State, but then both teams got cold for a three-minute stretch. Eventually, Kanye Clary and Hunter found the bottom of the net, but with eight minutes to go, it remained a low-scoring game.

After a pair of Wynter free throws, Sir’Jabari Rice and Allen cashed in on buckets in back-to-back possessions. The Nittany Lions got some shots to fall, including a Dread corner three, but another Allen jumper kept Texas up by three with four minutes left in the first half.

Jalen Pickett knocked down a free throw, but Disu followed suit by outscoring Penn State 6-2 on his own. On the final possession of the half, Marcus Carr drilled a jumper at the buzzer that sent the Longhorns into the locker room with a 31-23 lead.

Disu picked up where he left off and started the second half with a layup on Texas’ first possession. Pickett then marched down the court and muscled his way to an and-one bucket. On the other side of the court, Hunter drove to the hoop and used the glass for another two inside the paint.

Then, Andrew Funk drilled his first triple of the game, but both squads continued to trade baskets before the first media timeout of the second was called. The Longhorns remained up by seven through the first four minutes of play.

Coming off the timeout, Hunter found Rice for an easy jumper. However, Penn State followed it up with a 7-2 run with Funk contributing five of his own. The Longhorns called a full timeout as their lead was cut to four.

Bishop rose up on a Carr missed and finished with a slam. After an empty trip for Penn State, Carr drilled a step back over Pickett as the Longhorns quickly regained their eight-point lead.

Funk drove to the hoop and got another layup to fall before both teams traded points from the charity stripe. Lundy then drilled one from downtown which was followed by Allen and Funk trading buckets in the paint. After a missed jumper from Pickett, Rice knocked down a wide-open triple which gave the Longhorns a seven-point lead before a timeout was called.

After a brief stoppage on the court, Penn State exploded for a 10-0 run, which was highlighted by back-to-back Dread triples. Texas was forced to call a timeout as it trailed for the first time in the second half with under five minutes left to go.

Disu sizzled the run with three-straight buckets of his own which gave the lead back to the Longhorns. The final media timeout of the game was called at the 2:02 mark as Texas held onto a three-point lead.

Wynter was called for a backcourt violation, leading to a Carr driving layup. On the other side of the court, Dread missed an open shot from beyond the arc, followed by a Disu jumper. Wynter drove to the hoop and finished with a man all over him before Penn State called a timeout with 41 seconds remaining.

Texas broke the press as Allen found Disu for another bucket in the paint. Evan Mahaffey responded quickly with a layup of his own before Penn State put Texas in the bonus. Rice knocked down two from the charity stripe which increased the lead to seven.

The Nittany Lions marched down the court, but Pickett missed a layup under the hoop which caused them to foul Texas to stop the clock. Carr missed his free throw and Lundy marched down the court and sunk an and-one triple that cut Penn State’s deficit to three.

After another forced foul, Carr drilled two from the line, which ultimately put this game out of reach. Funk heaved a half-court shot, but it barely grazed the rim.

Texas escaped the night with a 71-66 victory over Penn State.

Takeaways:

• The first half was rough for the Nittany Lions. Jalen Pickett, Andrew Funk, and Seth Lundy went a combined 2-of-13 from the field for just 5 points. Penn State also only made two of 13 attempts from deep and turned the ball over five times. The team even got out-rebounded with Texas doubling Penn State’s offensive board. It was definitely a first half that Shrewsberry wishes his team could do over.
• Dylan Dise had a field day with Penn State’s backcourt tonight. The senior forward finished with 28 points and 10 boards, and just seemed to own the paint. The Nittany Lions just had no answer for him tonight.
• Sadly, the dance ended tonight. After such a historic season, this loss stings, but no one should be angry with how Penn State capped off the year. It only goes up from here.

What’s Next?

Penn State’s season finally comes to an end after the most impressive basketball campaign to date. The Nittany Lions will travel back home to State College and await what’s to come next season.