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Penn State Basketball Advances To Second Round Of Big Ten Tournament

By Marty Leap

Mar 8, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Glynn Watson Jr. (5) shoots the ball as Penn State Nittany Lions forward Mike Watkins (24) defends in the first half during the Big Ten Conference Tournament at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 8, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Glynn Watson Jr. (5) shoots the ball as Penn State Nittany Lions forward Mike Watkins (24) defends in the first half during the Big Ten Conference Tournament at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Penn State basketball team is advancing in the Big Ten Tournament.

In the month of March it’s all about surviving and advancing in college basketball. And surviving and advancing is exactly what the Penn State basketball team did on Wednesday.

Penn State picked up a victory in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. The 13th seeded Nittany Lions defeated 12th seeded Nebraska by a score of 76-67 in overtime. With the victory, the Nittany Lions advance to the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Penn State will now play 5th seeded Michigan State Thursday afternoon. During the regular season the Nittany Lions were victorious in their lone matchup with the Spartans. First tip Thursday should come around 3 PM.

In Wednesday’s game the Nittany Lions never trailed. With 19:09 left in the first half Mike Watkins made a layup to tame a 2-0 lead. Penn State would lead by as many as 11 in the first half, and led 38-33 at halftime.

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In the second half, the Nittany Lions struggled shooting the ball. This allowed the Cornhuskers to hang around in a game that Penn State should have already put away.

With 1:52 left in the game Nebraska was able to pull within one point at 56-55. However, on the Nittany Lions next possession Lamar Stevens was able to draw a foul and sink both free throws.

Nebraska tied the game at 58 with 49.3 seconds left in the game via a Glynn Watson Jr. three point shot.

With 2.7 seconds and the game tied at 60, the Nittany Lions possessed the ball. However, Tony Carr committed a turnover. Nebraska missed a half court shot at the buzzer, sending the game to overtime.

The Nittany Lions dominated in overtime. 35 seconds into the overtime period Stevens hit a three to give Penn State a 63-60 lead, and the Nittany Lions would not look back. Penn State outscored Nebraska by a score of 16-7 in overtime on their way to a 76-67 victory.

Freshman Mike Watkins had a monster day for the Nittany Lions. He scored a team-high 18 points to go along with 11 rebounds and eight blocks. The blocks set a new Big Ten Tournament record. Lamar Stevens and Shep Garner each scored 16 points.

Throughout the day sophomore guard Josh Reaves battled an ankle injury. Despite this, he had a great defensive game helping to hold Nebraska’s leading scorer Tai Webster to just 12 points on Wednesday.

With the victory, the Penn State is now 15-17 this season.

As I said above, Penn State defeated Michigan State in their lone regular season match up. This came back on January 7 By a score of 72-63. Hopefully, the Nittany Lions have another victory over the Spartans left in their system.

If the Nittany Lions defeat Michigan State on Thursday, they will play 4th seeded Minnesota in the tournament quarter-finals on Friday.

Click here for FanSided’s printable Big Ten Trounament bracket. FS__2017MarchMadness_BigTen_form

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