Saturday was the last time Ace Baldwin Jr., D’Marco Dunn, Puff Johnson, Zach Hicks, and Nick Kern Jr. ever put on the white Penn State uniform in the Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn State men’s basketball’s 68-64 Senior Day loss to No. 15 Maryland on Saturday encapsulates this season. The Nittany Lions started the year 12-2 only to be 15-15 with a 5-14 Big Ten record two months later. The losing stretch featured games with many turnovers and second-half blunders, and Saturday was no different.

“You could tell they wanted to come here and compete,” head coach Mike Rhoades said postgame. “Our guys did, and for the seniors, I really liked our approach. I just thought at times today we got too emotional.”

At the end of the first half, the Nittany Lions went on a 7-2 run to lead the Terrapins 36-30, who missed 11 shots in the final five minutes. It was Maryland’s largest halftime deficit against a Big Ten opponent this season.

Penn State shot more efficiently and out-rebounded Maryland, but the lead quickly disappeared at the start of the second half, and the Terrapins took control of the game. It was the Nittany Lions’ ninth loss of six points or less this season and turnovers, missed shots, and bad decisions in the second half were the culprits again.

This time though, when some missed calls and errors went against the Nittany Lions, Rhoades said the emotions of Senior Day got the best of them.

“If you react emotionally, you lose awareness of what’s needed on the next play,” Rhoades said. “Five times today, we were really emotional, and we reacted to bad plays or bad calls, or non-calls, or whatever may go and instead of responding. You have to respond.”

One of the more notable mistakes came with five minutes left in the game when Yanic Konan Niederhaser was called for an over-the-back foul while going for a rebound. When the whistle blew, Konan Niederhuaser spiked the ball in frustration and got a technical foul.

“I don’t know if he ever got a technical in his life,” Rhoades said. “That was a bad time technical, but he’s got to own it and learn from him. I pretty much told him, ‘You’ve got to be able to move on to the next play no matter what.’ He was frustrated because he cares so much, and he’ll learn from it.”

Ja’Kobi Gillespie made both free throws to make it a four-point game and the Terrapins maintained the lead until the end.

Like many other Penn State losses this season, Baldwin heaved up a deep and contested three with 10 seconds remaining and a timeout still on the board. But more importantly, this loss eliminated Penn State from making the Big Ten Tournament.

“It stinks, but it’s reality,” Rhoades said. “It doesn’t always go the way you want, but it keeps going, and so you’ve got to respond. You’ve got to keep plugging away. It’s disappointing. I’m disappointed.”

The Nittany Lions will play the last game of the season at No. 11 Wisconsin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 8. Dunn said after the loss that the emotions hadn’t hit him yet, but Baldwin said the moment meant more to him than just basketball.

“I created a great bond with my teammates,” Baldwin said. “I’ve been with all the coaches for five years, so I think it’s just bigger than basketball. It’s more of a family thing.”

Although Penn State has nothing to play for, per se, Rhoades is still encouraging his players to give it their all against the Badgers.

“Do it right. Do it right for the name on the front. Do it right for the name on the back. This is the last week that we’ll be together, this team here, with these seniors. Do it right. Do everything right,” Rhoades said. “If you’re about the right stuff, if you care about your teammates, you’ll approach this week the right way as a basketball player, and let’s go see what happens at Wisconsin on Saturday because we get to put the uniform on again.”