Shooting woes, another critical injury doom Nebraska in 76-65 loss at Penn State
With starting forward Juwan Gary out for the season, Nebraska needed to be at its best to pull off a road win over Penn State on Saturday afternoon.
Those hopes were erased by rough shooting on one end of the floor and 11 made 3-pointers by the Nittany Lions on the other. The Huskers never led in a 76-65 defeat at the Bryce Jordan Center in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Derrick Walker posted 20 points, six rebounds, and six assists to lead four NU players in double figures. But Andrew Funk dropped 23 points with five made 3-pointers to lead the way for a PSU squad that hit 11-of-30 from behind the arc.
Nebraska trimmed an 11-point deficit down to three with eight minutes remaining during a 13-2 run that featured 11 points from Keisei Tominaga. But another critical injury, this time to guard Emmanuel Bandoumel (knee), proved too much to overcome down the stretch.
The Huskers fell to 10-10 overall and 3-6 in Big Ten play with the loss, while Penn State improved to 13-6, 4-4. The Nittany Lions are now 10-1 in their home arena this season.
Penn State came out firing
The game couldn’t have started much worse for Nebraska, as Penn State took a 10-0 lead out of the gate. The Nittany Lions hit their first three 3-pointers, including a four-point play by Funk on the opening possession.
The Huskers finally settled things down with six straight points by Walker that sparked an 8-0 run. A three by C.J. Wilcher eventually tied the game up at 15-15 with eight minutes left in the half.
Nebraska shot just 34.8% from the field, 2-of-9 on 3-pointers, and 5-for-11 on free throws in the first half. On the other end, PSU hit seven threes and took 20 of its 30 shots from behind the arc.
The Huskers found themselves down a manageable 29-23 at the break. But Bandoumel’s injury would cast a long shadow over the rest of the game for NU.
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Tominaga’s spark wasn’t enough down the stretch
Walker and Wilcher scored Nebraska’s first 10 points of the second half and sparked a 7-0 run to tie the game at 33-33.
After falling behind by 11, the Huskers responded with a 9-2 run – all from Tominaga – and cut it to 54-49 with 9:29 remaining. The junior guard scored 11 of Nebraska’s 13 points during the rally and helped get the Huskers within 57-54 with 8:17 left.
But NU made just one field goal over the next five minutes, allowing Penn State to take its largest lead yet at 72-59 with 3:37 to play. Nebraska wouldn’t get any closer than seven the rest of the way.
The Nittany Lions hit 68% from the field in the second half, led by Seth Lundy, who scored 13 of his 16 points after the break.
Nebraska went 53.6% in the second half to bump its final line to 45.1% for the game. But 16 missed 3-pointers and 11 missed free throws proved to be too much to overcome.
Tominaga finished with 13 points, while Wilcher added 11 off the bench. Those two combined to make five of NU’s six 3-pointers in the loss. Sam Griesel chipped in 11 points, five rebounds, a career-high five steals, and four assists.
The Huskers are set to return to Pinnacle Bank Arena on Tuesday night against Northwestern.
