ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Penn State men’s basketball team saw its five-game win streak come to a close Wednesday night as the Nittany Lions dropped a 79-69 in Big Ten college basketball action.
It was a game of runs, as three separate scoring spurts of 11 or more points defined the second half. Penn State was able to construct two of the three 11-point runs as the Nittany Lions battled back from a 14-point deficit in the final eight minutes to pull within three before Michigan closed the game out from the charity stripe in the final minute.
Myles Dread scored his 1,000th career point in the first half but finished with only three points. Jalen Pickett scored a game-high 26 points while adding nine rebounds and four assists. Seth Lundy tallied 16 points and five boards.
Lundy nailed two triples in the first 3:17 and Michigan called an early timeout at the 16:23 mark with Penn State ahead 6-4. The Wolverines then used a 13-2 run over a 3:32 stretch to take a 20-10 lead with 12:17 left on the first-half clock.
The Nittany Lions rattled off a 17-11 run over the next seven minutes that included Dread’s milestone to pull back within four at 31-27 with five minutes left in the first half.
Michigan scored 11 of the next 14 points, however, before Evan Mahaffey banked in a half-court buzzer beater to end the half as the Wolverines took a 42-34 lead into the locker room.
The Wolverine lead was at 11 just over a minute into the second half before a Pickett layup sparked an 11-0 Nittany Lion run. Pickett scored six during the stretch as Penn State clawed back to tie the score at 47-47 with 15:06 to play.
Michigan responded with a 15-0 run over the next 3:53 to immediately jump back in front 62-47 with 11:20 left on the clock.
The Wolverines (9-5, Big Ten 3-0) took their largest lead at 68-54 three minutes later, but Penn State responded once again with an 11-0 stretch over the next 3:50. Back-to-back jumpers from Camren Wynter started the streak, and an Andrew Funk 3-pointer ended it as the Nittany Lions (11-4, Big Ten 2-2) pulled themselves all the way back within three at 68-65 with 4:28 to play.
A potential game-tying Funk 3-point attempt was halfway down but rimmed out. Michigan finished with an 11-4 run to seal the win. Funk was held to just nine points.
Game notes: Dread becomes the 38th member of Penn State’s 1,000 career-point club and the first Nittany Lion to join since Mike Watkins in 2020. … Pickett tied his career high with 26 points, reaching the mark for the second-straight game. He added nine rebounds and four assists. … Lundy scored in double figures for the 13th time this season, finishing with 16 points and five rebounds. The freshman Mahaffey scored a career-high seven points.
Penn State will host No. 1-ranked Purdue this Sunday at the Palestra in Philadelphia for a 6 p.m. tipoff. The game will air on the Big Ten Network. General public tickets have already sold out.
PENN STATE (11-4): Njie 0-2 0-1 0, Funk 4-12 0-0 9, Pickett 9-16 6-7 26, Wynter 4-9 0-0 8, Lundy 5-11 2-2 16, Mahaffey 3-4 0-1 7, Dread 1-4 0-0 3, Clary 0-0 0-0 0, Henn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-58 8-11 69.
MICHIGAN (9-5): Williams 2-3 3-4 8, Dickinson 6-10 5-9 17, Bufkin 5-12 3-4 14, Je.Howard 4-11 4-4 14, McDaniel 5-11 1-2 12, Baker 3-8 0-0 9, Ja.Howard 0-1 0-0 0, Reed 2-2 1-2 5, Barnes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-58 17-25 79.
Halftime–Michigan 42-34. 3-Point Goals–Penn St. 9-28 (Lundy 4-10, Pickett 2-2, Mahaffey 1-2, Dread 1-4, Funk 1-8, Wynter 0-2), Michigan 8-19 (Baker 3-6, Je.Howard 2-5, McDaniel 1-2, Williams 1-2, Bufkin 1-4). Fouled Out–Dread. Rebounds–Penn St. 29 (Pickett 9), Michigan 35 (Williams 9). Assists–Penn St. 6 (Pickett 4), Michigan 11 (Bufkin 5). Total Fouls–Penn St. 20, Michigan 16.
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