Penn State men’s basketball (11-17, 2-15 Big Ten) lost to No. 9 Nebraska (23-4, 12-4 Big Ten) 87-64 at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Nittany Lions were never really in this one. They trailed for nearly 36 minutes. Nebraska was led by Pryce Sandfort, who made eight 3-pointers.

How It Happened

Penn State started the game with Kayden Mingo, Freddie Dilione V, Dominick Stewart, Ivan Jurić, and Josh Reed on the floor. Braden Frager replaced Berke Buyuktencel on Nebraska’s starting lineup.

The Nittany Lions struck first with a Reed jumper from the paint. Nebraska responded with a made layup on the ensuing possession.

Reed drew a foul on a made layup and converted the three-point play to make it 7-4 Penn State early. Pryce Sandfort tied the game on his first shot, making Dilione pay off a bad pass.

A missed three by Mingo allowed Sandfort to take the lead with his second trey in as many possessions. He made his third and was fouled the next time he got the ball, making it 10 points for him in under two minutes. The four-point play gave Nebraska a five-point lead.

After turnovers and missed shots by both teams, Frager ended the drought for Nebraska’s fourth made three during a 13-2 run. He would make another after a missed dunk off a steal by Reed. Reed looked to be fouled on the play, but it wasn’t called.

A Nebraska turnover gave way for a made jumper by Stewart, signaling Penn State’s first points in over six and a half minutes. The Cornhuskers came back on the next possession and ended a three-minute drought of their own with a layup.

Jurić collected his third board of the game off a missed 3-pointer by Nebraska and converted a layup in transition. Jurić would get a block a couple of possessions later, Mingo would recover the ball and draw two free throws on the other end. Mingo would miss both shots.

Sandfort would hit his fourth triple of the game, giving Nebraska the 29-14 lead with just over three minutes left to play in half one. The Cornhuskers would extend their lead to 18 with two made layups in just 22 seconds.

The half wouldn’t be over without another Sandfort three, giving him 20. Reed would respond with one of his own to make it 38-20 at halftime.

Dilione let it fly from deep for the first points of the second half. A Nebraska turnover allowed for a Jurić slam off an assist by Reed. Jamarques Lawrence cashed in from deep for the Cornhuskers’ first bucket in the second half. He would then make two layups in rapid succession, giving him seven of a 9-0 Nebraska run, forcing Penn State to use a timeout.

Frager made the ninth Cornhusker triple, making it 53-27 just over five minutes into the half. Mingo made a layup in traffic for his first points of the game. Mingo would make a jumper on Penn State’s next offensive possession, then deal a nice pass to assist on a bucket by Saša Ciani.

Melih Tunca got a steal and made a layup on a fastbreak to cut the Nebraska lead down to 24. Mingo converted on a three-point play at the line to make the Penn State run 7-0 spanning over just 80 seconds.

Mingo collected a steal and gave Tunca a gift, which he slammed down in transition to get Penn State within 19. Sandfort ended the Nittany Lion run after 11 straight points with a driving layup.

The teams would exchange buckets before a media timeout with a little over seven minutes left to play. After the break, Eli Rice would hit two free throws against his former team. Frager drained a three, the Cornhuskers’ 10th. Shortly after, Sandfort made his sixth from deep.

With just over four minutes left to play, Mason Blackwood tallied his fourth three-pointer of the season. The game became 77-58 Nebraska after Reed and Sandfort traded threes.

With under a minute left, Kendall Blue sank a trey to close this one out with Nebraska on top, 87-64 final score.

Takeaways

• The Cornhuskers’ success from deep defined this one. They shot 40% from beyond the arc and made 14, 10 more than Penn State.
• Pryce Sandfort was unstoppable, scoring 33 and making eight treys, a clear difference-maker for Nebraska.
• After being held scoreless in the first, Kayden Mingo strung together a nice second half, scoring 13 points and dishing out six assists in the game.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will return home to host Iowa on Saturday, February 28, at the Bryce Jordan Center. Tip-off is scheduled for noon, and the game will be streamed on the Big Ten Network.