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Penn State second-half rally unravels in final minutes, dropping 71-66 decision to Texas

nate-mug-10.12.14by:Nate Bauer•03/18/23•

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DES MOINES, IOWA - MARCH 18: Jalen Pickett #22 of the Penn State Nittany Lions is fouled by Sir'Jabari Rice #10 of the Texas Longhorns during the first half in the second round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on March 18, 2023 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Penn State entered its second round NCAA Tournament matchup with Texas determined to stop the Longhorns’ guards. Led in scoring by Marcus Carr, Tyrese Hunter, Timmy Allen and Sir’Jabari Rice all season, the Nittany Lions would need to lock in defensively, according to head coach Micah Shrewsberry.

“Their guards are as good as any in the country,” Shrewsberry said Friday in Des Moines, Iowa. “We will have our hands full defensively trying to slow these guys down… but it should be a great battle and we’re looking forward to playing another game.”

Penn State executed its plan against the Longhorns’ guard to perfection on Saturday night in the Round of 32. But, Texas senior forward Dylan Disu had other ideas.

Led by a season-high 28 points from Disu, Texas ended Penn State’s 2022-23 season with a 71-66 decision. The Longhorns’ 6-9 big man set a program record for most made field goals in an NCAA Tournament game, moving ahead of Kevin Durant, with 14 makes on 20 shots from the floor. Combining with 10 rebounds, it was Disu’s third double-double of the year.

“Dylan Disu was really good, and I thought this is the first time… somebody has cracked the code of our ball screen defense here recently, and he got into the middle and made a bunch of plays,” Shrewsberry said. “But, credit to those other guys around him.”

Penn State 3-point shooting goes cold

After a record-setting night for Penn State on Thursday in a 76-59 win over Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Nittany Lions hitting 13 of 22 shots from beyond the arc, they went cold on Saturday night.

Though Myles Dread connected for 4-of-9 makes from deep, Penn State finished as a team hitting just 8-of-28 3-pointers. The Nittany Lions’ 28.6 percent was their fourth-worst 3-point shooting rate of the season.

Andrew Funk and Seth Lundy, two of the most prolific 3-point shooters in the Big Ten this season, went just 2-of-10 and 2-of-6 from deep, finishing with 12 and 11 points on the game, respectively.

Pickett’s off night

Penn State’s second-team All-American point guard struggled through one of his toughest nights of the season. Hitting on just 5-of-13 shots, Pickett scored 11 points to go along with 10 rebounds. But, with seven turnovers and four personal fouls, Pickett was stymied by Texas’ difficult defensive performance all night.

Picking up the Nittany lions from the guard spot, Cam Wynter helped spark the Nittany Lions with his midrange game. He finished with a team-high 16 points in the loss.

For the season, Penn State finished with a 23-14 overall record and a 13-11 mark against Big Ten opponents.

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