No. 8 Michigan 83, Penn State 66: Big Ten Player of the Year Trey Burke scored 21 points and the Wolverines pulled away in the second half to stymie the Nittany Lions in the first round of the conference tournament in Chicago.
Tim Hardaway Jr. and Nik Stauskas tallied 15 points apiece while Mitch McGary had 10 points and 11 rebounds for fifth-seeded Michigan (26-6), which meets fourth-seeded Wisconsin in Friday’s quarterfinals.
D.J. Newbill scored 20 points, Sasa Borovnjak added 15 points and Ross Travis had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Penn State (10-21), which stunned Michigan with a 84-78 home victory on Feb. 27.
The Nittany Lions hinted that they were interested in duplicating their last month’s upset of the Wolverines by rolling off 14 consecutive points for a quick 14-3 lead. Michigan recovered to lead by as many as eight before settling for a 35-33 lead at the break.
The Wolverines led 46-45 with less than 15 minutes to play before exploding on a decisive 18-3 run. Reserve Jon Horford scored seven of his 11 points during the stretch, including the spurt-ending dunk that gave Michigan a 64-48 lead with 9:46 remaining.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Michigan was 19-of-23 from the free-throw line while Penn State was 5-for-8. … The 20-point outing was Burke’s 13th of the season. … Travis recorded double-doubles in all three games against Michigan.
Penn St. | Michigan | |
D.J. Newbill 20 | Scoring | Trey Burke 21 |
Jermaine Marshall 7 | Assists | Tim Hardaway, Jr. 5 |
Ross Travis 11 | Rebounds | Mitch McGary 11 |
Ross Travis 2 | Free Throws Made | Nik Stauskas 5 |
Sasa Borovnjak 1 | Steals | Glenn Robinson III 3 |
Nick Colella 2 | Blocks | Trey Burke 3 |