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Penn State Hoops Drops Heartbreaker To No. 15 Oregon 82-81

Penn State men’s basketball (12-5, 2-4 Big Ten) lost a close game against No. 15 Oregon (15-2, 4-2 Big Ten) 82-81 inside the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday afternoon.

The Nittany Lions overcame a halftime deficit but lost the lead again late as the Ducks gave Penn State its third straight loss.

How It Happened

After being listed as questionable on the pregame availability report, Ace Baldwin Jr. was not in the starting lineup and wasn’t dressed for the tilt against the Ducks. Freddie Dilione V, Puff Johnson, Yanic Konan Niederhauser, Nick Kern Jr., and Zach Hicks made up Rhoades’ starting five in Baldwin’s absence.

Niederhauser won the tip and Dilione scored the game’s first points on a layup and Penn State quickly went up 2-0. Niederhauser played tough defense on Nate Bittle before grabbing a rebound and going in the opposite direction.

Kern was fouled and made one free throw as Oregon gained possession. The Ducks had an empty possession before Johsnons was fouled underneath the bucket and hit both free throws to put the Nittany Lions up 5-0. Bittle scored the first points of the game for the Ducks from under the basket but Johnson answered with a three.

Jackson Shelstad knocked down a three-pointer that cut the Nittany Lion lead down to three. Niederhauser missed a layup and Hicks fouled at the other end as Jadrian Tracey went 1-2 from the line.

Two missed three-pointers gave the Ducks possession and Bittle hit a three to give the Ducks their first lead of the game. It got larger on the next trip down as Keeshawn Barthelemy made a bucket in transition. A Dilione jumper cut the Oregon lead to one and led to the first media timeout.

Kern grabbed a missed pass from Oregon and scored on the opposite end after a goaltend from the Ducks and the Nittany Lions took the lead back at 12-11.

After a few empty possessions on both sides, Barthelemy nailed a three to put the Ducks up 14-12. Puff Johnson was called for an offensive foul on the next possession and the Ducks capitalized with a two in the paint. Penn State answered with a layup from D’marco Dunn as the offenses started to take over.

Niederhauser slammed down a lob from Kern after another three from the Ducks to cut the lead to 23-18. Barthelemy hit another three to push the Oregon lead to ten and Rhoades called a timeout with 9:24 left in the first half.

Johnson missed a layup and Hicks committed a foul at the other end and T.J. Bamba knocked down both free throws. Dilione hit a three to cut the lead back to 11 and Johnson took a charge to get possession back.

Kern made a layup after the charge but Bittle knocked down a jumper from the paint to make it 34-23. Oregon extended the lead to 38-25 with less than five minutes to go in the first half. Kern answered with a driving bucket before Supreme Cook went 1-2 from the line.

Miles Goodman committed a foul and Kwame Evans Jr. made both free throws to push the lead to 14. Johnson nailed a bucket and a miss from Oregon gave Penn State possession. Dilione made another three to cut the lead to 9 and Hicks recorded a steal but was fouled on the run.

Hicks made both free throws and cut the lead to seven with 30 seconds remaining. Oregon couldn’t score and the game went to halftime with the Nittany Lions trailing 41-34.

Brandon Angel started the second half with an easy layup but Kern answered with one of his own to keep the deficit at seven. Another takeaway for the Nittany Lions led to a miss from Johnson but Dilione registered a block at the other end.

Hicks missed a three but Kern forced a jump ball and the Nittany Lions retained possession. The Nittany Lions couldn’t manage any offense, though, and a shot clock violation gave the ball back to the Ducks. Dilione was fouled and went down hard but jumped up and made both free throws.

Hicks got the lead down to five, but Tracey hit on the other end to push it back to seven. Oregon couldn’t control the ball as it went out of bounds and gave possession to the Nittany Lions as the game went to the first media timeout.

Kern got through the lane and made a layup that cut the lead to five once again but Cook was fouled at the other end but missed both free throws. Hicks nailed a three after the misses and cut the lead to two. Bamba couldn;t answer and Kern tied the game up at 49-49 and forced an Oregon timeout.

Angel couldn’t hit a three and Dunn nailed a jumper from the free throw line to give Penn State the lead again at 51-49. Shelstad hit a three from way downtown and put the Ducks back up by one. A pair of free throws from Bamba extended the Oregon lead.

Kern got Penn State back to within one before Barthelemy hit a two to make it 56-53. Niederhauser threw down a lob on the next possession and an Oregon miss gave the Nittany Lions another chance to take the lead.

Johnson hit, and the Nittany Lions led 57-56. After another empty possession from the Ducks, Johnson hit another two and the Nittany Lions led by three. Angel hit one of his two free throws before Hicks connected at the other end and the Nittany Lions led by four.

Shelstad made a bucket in transition after two Kern free throws that brought the lead down to four, but Dilione connected on a three and the Nittany Lions led 66-59.

The lead grew after two free throws from Dilione but Barthelemy answered to get it back to seven. Dilione was sent back to the line and went 1-2 before Tracey converted an and-one to make it 69-64. A transition bucket from the Ducks made it a three-point game before Johnson hit to get the lead back to five.

Dilione hit a three and forced an Oregon timeout with the Nittany Lions leading 74-68. Barthelemy and Tracey made threes out of the break and Evans tied the game on the next possession. Kern made a layup to retake the lead and a timeout was called on the floor.

Kwame tied the game at 78-78 on a layup with just over a minute left in regulation. Shelstad made from the corner and put Oregon up 80-78 which was followed by a Duck timeout.

Kern gave a foul with 25 seconds remaining. Neither team was in the bonus and the Nittany Lions needed two more to put Oregon in the bonus. Tracey hit both of his free throws and the Nittany Lions trailed by four with 18 seconds left.

Hicks missed a three at the other end and the ball went out of bounds with 4.3 seconds left. Hicks nailed a three off of the inbound pass and Rhoades called a timeout down 82-81 with two seconds remaining. The inbound was made, but time ran out and Penn State fell 82-81.

Takeaways

  • The Nittany Lions’ comeback was made possible by Oregon being loose with the ball and Penn State capitalized. The Ducks finished with 11 turnovers on the night.
  • Freddie Dilione V had a great night with Ace Baldwin Jr. out, finishing with 21 points.
  • Four Nittany Lions reached double figures as the team continued to spread the ball around, finishing with 13 assists.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will go on the road to take on No. 16 Michigan State at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 15. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

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About the Author

CJ Doebler

CJ is a senior finance major and is Onward State's sports editor. He is from Northumberland, Pa, just east of State College. CJ is an avid Pittsburgh sports fan but chooses to ignore the Pirates' existence. For the occasional random retweet and/or bad take, follow @CDoebler on Twitter. All complaints can be sent to [email protected].

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