Trailing 15, Penn State Basketball fired a shot at the buzzer to win, but fell 59-58 against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Jersey Mike Center on Sunday.
Penn State basketball (12–16, 7–13) ended the season on a three-game losing streak, their third three-game loss streak on a conference year. Similarly, the Nittany Lions finished the regular season with just one road win at Northwestern two months earlier.
Micah Shrewsberry's team had a really good chance in the first round bye in the Big Ten Tournament, instead now needing to win five games in five days to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in a losing streak.
Penn State basketball was led by John Harrar, who has played in more games than any player in Penn State basketball history. Harar finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds. Seth Lundy added 17 points in just 12 shots.
On Rutgers Senior 'Night' in front of another sold-out crowd at Jersey Mikes Arena (aka The Rac) and their biggest crowd since 2002, familiar initials of Penn State basketballers Jalen Pickett, Dalian Johnson, Lundy, Greg Lee and Harrar went to the lineup. , Rutgers started in zone 2-3, completely scorching the Nittany Lions and forcing a shot clock violation on the first Penn State possession, a fitting representation of the Nittany Lions offense throughout the day.
Shrewsberry was forced to call an early timeout when Rutgers took a 15-5 lead.
Penn State basketball, playing their traditional slow game, were forced to rely on the end of shot clock three, making only one of their first eight. The Scarlet Knights, despite losing their center with two first-half fouls in the opening minute, got used to a defensive-style match-up and forced three PSU turn-overs in the opening eight minutes.
A violation of the third (!) Penn State Basketball Shot Clock Half allowed Rutgers to take an 11-point lead, but five free throws (Lundy 3, Harrer 2) helped reduce the Nittany Lions' lead to six, but Back to back run outside slam dunks blown off the roof.
Penn State basketball went close to four, but scored just one three-pointer (out of 12 attempts ... given Rutgers keen strategy to start center Clifford Omoruyi played less than 1 minute due to a foul) Gave the Scarlet Knights a 29-21 lead in the half. ,
Stop me if you've heard this before, but Penn State Basketball started the second half very slowly as Rutgers pulled off a 7-0 run to push the lead to 36-21, prompting Shrewsberry to call a timeout. was forced. Which play did we make? 29 seconds of dribbling and the end of the shot clock from the picket... sigh.
Penn State basketball showed little life, eventually hitting the rim at shot clock. Six straight points from Sesam and Lundy gave the Nittany Lions hope, but a Harper Jr. and -1 pushed the lead back to 14 with 13:37.
A Miles Dread Three extended Rutgers' lead to 10 with 10:40, Penn State's second three of the game.
Penn State turned to the zone, which again caused problems clearing the glass as Rutgers grabbed second-chance assets. But a picket three and Lundy ally-up lay-in of a Sesame steal got Penn State within eight, forcing Rutgers to timeout with 7:45 remaining.
Rutgers produced an easy ally-oop slam, but Penn State answered with a dreaded three and two missed Rutgers free throws gave life to the Nittany Lions, but calmed Sesam to move the hook into the basket. Gone. A Rutgers dip did not result in a Lundy Three cutting the lead to four minutes, with only three minutes left!
A quick Sesame steal prompted Harar to make two free throws and just like that, a possession game out of nowhere and a Lundy floater tied the game at 55, timeout to go with Scarlet Knights 1:53. First game, was tied 3-3!
A hard call against Lundy lined up Harper, Jr., but he only made a free throw, but Lundy was called for a pushoff on the next Nittany Lion possession, but Lundy shot a Rutgers shot on the next possession. Responded by blocking, the timeout called by Shrewsberry, down 56-55 with 0:52 remaining.
Sesame, probably going for a 'two-for-one' shot clock fadeaway jumper, got off to a rough start.
Penn State fouled despite an eight-second gap between play and shot clock? Caleb McConnell calmly pushed both forwards to three and Penn State called their final timeout.
A Sesame shot would have made sense if you were trying to ensure the final possession, which he would have earned, but fouling immediately ends that strategy, hence some confusion with Penn State's end of the game strategy. It is possible.
A quick Greg Lee's three-point effort looked like an unusual play, but the three edged out and Rutgers made a free throw to extend the lead to four. The Sessoms ended a quick pull-up three to take the lead, leaving a Rutgers timeout with 7.2 seconds.
Incredibly, Rutgers threw the inbound and Penn State gave the ball a chance to win. However, he did not know how much time was left as Sesame Three was airballed in a deep race and Rutgers survived.
Penn State will play the Big Ten on the first day of the tournament, likely Wednesday, March 9 at 8:30 p.m. versus Nebraska, who destroyed the Nittany Lions in their only matchup this year. The full Big Ten tournament bracket will be released later tonight.