Seth Lundy fired in a game-high 31 points Sunday night, including a back-breaking 3-pointer in the final minute, as Penn State sent NCAA Tournament hopeful Maryland into the Big Ten tournament with a 66-61 loss in College Park, Md.
Lundy's 23-footer with 35.5 seconds left in the game made it 61-57 Nittany Lions, and Myreon Jones added two foul shots with 21.1 ticks on the clock to finish a 12-0 run over 2 1/2 minutes and decide the outcome.
Jones added 17 points for Penn State (10-13, 7-12 Big Ten), which overcame 33.9 percent field goal shooting by canning 9 of 26 3-pointers and outboarding the Terrapins 39-31. The Nittany Lions permitted just one offensive rebound and committed just nine turnovers.
Aaron Wiggins scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Maryland (15-12, 9-11), which won five consecutive games before a disastrous final week. It lost at Northwestern Wednesday night before absorbing this loss and might need a win in the Big Ten tourney to avoid possibly being left out of the NCAA field.
Eric Ayala added 14 points and Darryl Morsell chipped in 10 for the Terrapins, which lost despite sinking 47.9 percent of their field goal attempts.
Maryland wasted little time putting its stamp on the first half, establishing a 12-0 lead when Donta Scott connected on a 3-pointer at the 15:28 mark. The Terrapins didn't cede a bucket to Penn State until Lundy tipped in a Jones miss with 14:33 remaining.
Lundy scored the Nittany Lions' first nine points and pulled them within five with 12:08 left, but Maryland kept them at arm's length for the half's remainder. The Terps made it 24-11 on a Hakim Hart dunk 7:54 before intermission.
Ayala's 3-pointer upped the margin to 29-13 with 5:34 showing, but Maryland went more than four minutes without scoring and Penn State was able to cut the deficit to 29-23 before Morsell canned a pair of mid-range jumpers for a 33-23 advantage at the break.
--Field Level Media
Penn St. | Maryland | |
Seth Lundy 31 | Scoring | Aaron Wiggins 15 |
Jamari Wheeler 3 | Assists | Eric Ayala 3 |
Seth Lundy 8 | Rebounds | Aaron Wiggins 10 |
John Harrar 7 | Free Throws Made | Eric Ayala 5 |
Sam Sessoms 3 | Steals | Darryl Morsell 2 |
N/A | Blocks | Jairus Hamilton 1 |