UNIVERSITY PARK — The Penn State men’s basketball team was mired in a losing streak when 17-9 Nebraska came into the Bryce Jordan Center on Wednesday, Feb. 19, looking to take another step closer to the NCAA Tournament.
Ten minutes into the game Penn State had already built a 15-point lead, and it was very clear that the Lions brought their A-game.
The Nittany Lions kept on the accelerator, finished one of their best halves of the season and went on to close out an impressive 89-72 win over the Huskers.
Three days later at Minnesota, Penn State made it back-to-back wins with a hard-fought 69-60 victory over the Golden Gophers.
Led by Yanic Konan Niederhauser’s 24 points, Penn State came back at the Gophers from an early deficit to take a 2-point halftime lead that the Lions slowly expanded to double-digits midway through the second half.
Minnesota rallied late and drew to within 3 points with less than two minutes to play, but free throws by Ace Baldwin and Nick Kern, along with a slam by Niederhauser, clinched the win for PSU.
The two wins put an end to the team’s seven-game losing streak that dated back to the difficult 1-point, 76-75, loss at Iowa on Friday, Jan. 24.
In the streak, there were other close losses to Michigan, Minnesota and Washington in which the Lions could not come through with important late scores.
But they didn’t need them in the big win against Nebraska and then Niederhauser, Baldwin and Kern came through against Minnesota.
“Just proud of the guys, today,” Penn State coach Mike Rhoades said after the Nebraska game. “Most of the game we played the right way today. Thought we really shared the ball today and attacked. We had a lot of inside-outside opportunities today and at the rim. The guys were making good plays with their eyes up.
“We set the tone with our defense, from full to half court, and I thought that got us going. We’ve been through a tough stretch, and if you want to go where we want to go, you have to go through struggles. And we had a long struggle.
“I thought today we had a good flow to the offense and guys sharing the ball. We have guys who can shoot it, and they got easy shots off good penetration. That was a big part of our success today.”
Penn State shot 60% from the field against Nebraska and put six players in double figures for the first time since the Coppin State game on Dec. 14, 202.
Hicks and Niederhauser both scored 19 with D’Marco Dunn getting 17, Freddie Dilione V 12 and both Ace Baldwin and Nick Kern adding 10.
Eight players altogether scored against Minnesota and besides Niederhauser’s 24, Baldwin and Dilione V both scored 10.
The Nittany Lions are now 15-13 overall and 5-12 in the Big Ten. The team has three games remaining on the schedule: at Indiana, home against Maryland and at Wisconsin to end the regular season.
