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Penn State Basketball: Nittany Lions fall to Michigan in a game that could prove costly in March

By Caleb Wilfinger

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Head coach Patrick Chambers of the Penn State Nittany Lions yells from the sidelines against the Michigan State Spartans during the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Verizon Center on March 9, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Head coach Patrick Chambers of the Penn State Nittany Lions yells from the sidelines against the Michigan State Spartans during the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Verizon Center on March 9, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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Penn State basketball had a chance to give a serious boost to its NCAA Tournament resume when it hosted No. 17 Michigan on Wednesday

Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, their tournament hopes took a big hit after falling to the Wolverines 72-63 at the Bryce Jordan Center. Penn State has dropped two straight games against quadrant one opponents, including a heartbreaker at Purdue earlier this week.

The Nittany Lions now likely need to defeat fellow bubble-team Nebraska in Lincoln this Saturday, before winning two games in the Big Ten tournament if they want to have a chance at playing deep into March.

With Penn State still feeling the effects of senior night at the BJC, Michigan raced out to a quick lead, shooting 7-of-9 from the field and stifling the hosts at the other end.

An early injury to sophomore center Mike Watkins created matchup problems for Penn State all night.

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The home side was forced to go small after Julian Moore picked up his second foul and the Wolverines capitalized, using multiple three-pointers from Duncan Robinson to go on a 14-2 run and lead 30-17 late in the half.

However, the Nittany Lions did go on a late spurt to close out the first 20 minutes, cutting the Michigan lead to 32-24 at the break and injecting some life back into the home arena. This momentum carried over into the second half as the Roman Catholic tandem of Tony Carr and Lamar Stevens took over the game.

Carr was more aggressive offensively, scoring 16 of his 21 points in the second half and Stevens was a catalyst for the Nittany Lions on both sides of the ball, hitting four straight shots early in the second half and blocking Moe Wagner at the rim to send the crowd into a frenzy.

All of a sudden Penn State had a 39-38 lead.

The Nittany Lions were hot again, looking like the team that had won six of seven and jump into the March Madness conversation.

However, the Wolverine defense responded in a big way, tightening their zone to limit the open shots Penn State was previously getting. In addition, Wagner stepped up and hit three threes in the second half to thwart the comeback bid and deny the Nittany Lions of another huge resume-building win.

Next up for Penn State is a road test at Nebraska on Sunday at 5:15 before gearing up for the Big Ten Tournament next week at Madison Square Garden.

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