Penn State Basketball loses double OT thriller to Clemson 101-94
Penn State Basketball fell short against Clemson, 101-94 on Tuesday night in a game that went to double overtime.
Andrew Funk banked in a three with five seconds left to send the game to overtime. Both teams went back in forth throughout the overtime periods, but in the end, Clemson was able to keep the shot making going longer than the Nittany Lions.
Penn State Basketball was up 35-29 at halftime but lost their shooting touch in the second half leading to a 70-64 Clemson lead with just 19 seconds left. The Tigers missed three free throws in the final 20 seconds which left the door open for Funk to hit the shot that sent the game to OT. In the first overtime the team traded buckets ending in a turnaround jumper from Clemson forward PJ Hall to tie the game at 83 after PSU guard Camren Wynter hit a jumper with 20 seconds left to give the Nittany Lions the lead.
Clemson forwards Hunter Tyson and PJ Hall lead the charge for the Tigers with 24 and 22 points, respectively. Guard Alex Hemenway also contributed 15 points while shooting 4-6 from deep. Freshman guard Joshua Beadle had two huge blocks on back-to-back possessions that helped the Tigers get a six-point lead 1:07 left that was too hard for the Nittany Lions to overcome. As a team Clemson shot 51% from the field and a blistering 52% from three.
The Penn State team only managed 41% from the field and 31% from deep. The poor shooting along with their 11 turnovers and 28 fouls made it hard for the offense to get into much of a rhythm at any point in the game. It was a particularly tough game for Jalen Pickett and Myles Dread. Pickett finished with 23 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds, but he shot just 9-21 and went 0-7 from three along with 4 turnovers and 4 fouls. Dread was held scoreless going 0-6 from three before fouling out in the first overtime.
It was not all bad news for PSU, however. This was easily Cam Wynter’s best game of his Penn State career. The senior guard finished with 26 points on 6-12 shooting from the field and 3-6 shooting from deep. He hit clutch shots all night and kept Penn State in it at times with his spectacular 11-12 shooting from the free throw line. Additionally, Seth Lundy kept up his recent strong play with a 23 point and 12 rebound double-double. The Nittany Lions also got some good bench minutes and shot making from guards Dallion Johnson and Kanye Clary.
Penn State Basketball will try to fix the shooting back home against 20th ranked Michigan State on Wednesday, 12/7 at 6:30 PM on Big Ten Network.