Big Ten Tournament: Penn State eliminated in overtime after losing late lead to Minnesota

There was plenty of drama in the Big Ten Tournament game

Penn State struggled for much of the season in the Big Ten, but the Nittany Lions improved over the last month and carried a lot of momentum into the Big Ten Tournament. IN a fitting end, the Nittany Lions lost a late lead and fell to Minnesota, 77-72.

Despite dominating the majority of the game, Penn State was unable to hang on late and went on to lose in extra time. The Nittany Lions were up by eight points with just over four minutes remaining, but that’s when the game turned.

Minnesota closed the game on a 10-2 run to force overtime. The Gophers actually had a great chance to win, when Amir Coffey received an open look from three for the final shot, but he was unable to hit at the buzzer.

Overtime went back and forth, but Penn State was unable to make the shots when needed. Minnesota, particularly Coffey, was too much for the Nittany Lions to handle. Held in check for much of the game, Coffey turned it on late and finished the game with 22 points — 16 of which came in the final nine minutes of play.

Penn State was led by 24 points from Lamar Stevens. Josh Reaves, playing in his last game as a Nittany Lion, scored 12 points and pulled down six rebounds.

Every game is filled with close moments that could have been different, but Penn State was the victim of two head-scratching calls within the final two minutes. First, Stevens was clearly held and hooked on a layup attempt, but no call was made. Next, a replay showed a ball clearly going out-of-bounds off a Minnesota player, but the call went in favor of the Gophers.

Had either of those moments been called correctly, Penn State would have been in a great position to close out the game in regulation.

The tough loss is a fitting end to a frustrating season for a Penn State squad that failed to live up to expectations.