PSU plays tough but falls short in OT

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: December 7, 2023

Photo by Tim Weighy
By Joshua Yoder

Maryland 81, Penn State 75 (OT)
COLLEGE PARK, MD- The Nittany Lions came out the gates quickly and managed to jump ahead of the Terrapins taking advantage of their missed shots through the first part of the opening half. Maryland was shooting under 30 percent from the field.

However, the Terrapins were fighting their way back as Penn State failed to get its shots to fall as well which kept the game close with just five minutes remaining in the opening half.
Jamie Kaiser Jr nailed a three ball to even the game at 25 apiece before Nick Kern Jr answered with a lay up to put Penn State back up on top 27-25.

Kanye Clary hit two free throws with just over a minute to play before Maryland responded with a big three point shot from Jahari Long which forced Penn State to call timeout.

But it was ultimately Penn State to go into the break with a 30-28 lead.

For the first half, the Nittany Lions shot 46 percent from the field hitting 12 of 26 shots. They also collected with two of six shots from beyond the arc which was a percentage of 33.

Maryland in the first half shot just under 30 percent in the opening half only hitting nine of 32 shots. 14 of those shots came from the three point line but the Terrapins only managed to hit three of them for a three point shooting percentage of 21.

Both teams struggled with turnovers in the first half with both Penn State and Maryland each having eight in the half.

Both teams also nearly had ten fouls in the half with the Nittany Lions having nine fouls while Maryland had eight.

The Terrapins were winning the battle on the boards as they nearly had as many rebounds offensively as they did defensively with nine on offense and 13 on defense.

Maryland started the second half strong and took the lead from Penn State. However, the Nittany Lions turned it up offensively and went on a little run and grabbed the lead right back.

But much like in the first half, Maryland slowly chipped away at the Penn State lead and cut it within one at 49-48 with under just over seven and a half minutes remaining.

From there on both Maryland and Penn State took turns trading shots at one another with no one really able to get the upper hand.

With 22 seconds left with the score 70-69 Maryland, Kanye Clary of Penn State missed a jumper which forced the Nittany Lions to foul. DeShawn Harris-Smith hit one of two free throws to give the Terrapins a 71-69 lead with four seconds left.

Penn State tried to get the ball full count but got a lucky break as Ace Baldwin Jr was fouled by Long which sent Baldwin Jr to the line who hit both free throws to tie game up at 71 apiece.

Jahmir Young tried to score a bucket as time expired, but failed to make the shot which forced overtime.

Then in overtime, both Maryland and Penn State continued to battle as hard as they could, but in the end the Terrapins were too much and held on to get the win.

Clary led the Nittany Lions with 25 points and Baldwin Jr added another 16. For the Terrapins, they leading scorer was by Young who had a game high of 28 points. Julian was second on the team in scoring with 24 and collected 15 rebounds to give him a double-double.

Rebounding was a major factor in the win for Maryland had 22 rebounds for the first half and were even better in the second half and overtime as they collected 31 boards for a total of 53 rebounds, 23 of which were offensive while the other 30 were on defense.

Penn State falls to (4-5) overall and start off in the Big Ten at (0-1) and will look to end the losing streak which has moved to five straight games on Saturday as the Nittany Lions will return home to host the Ohio State Buckeyes.