The Penn State Nittany Lions (18-16, 6-15 Big Ten) ended their Cinderella tournament run with a 64-59 loss to the fourth-seeded Purdue Boilermakers (20-11, 12-6 Big Ten).
DJ Newbill ended his senior season with 19 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Fellow senior Ross Travis added 10 points and nine rebounds in the attempt.
Penn State jumped out to an early lead with points from Travis, Newbill, and Donovan Jack. Travis’ dunk over AJ Hammons, Purdue’s 7-foot junior forward, gave the Nittany Lions a 37-26 lead with 1:38 remaining in the first half.
Penn State maintained a six-point lead for a majority of the second half, but seemed to run out of steam in the final five minutes of the game. The Boilermakers were relentless in their attack, outrunning, outrebounding and outscoring the Lions with a 13-0 run during an eight minute stretch in the second.
With just under a minute to go, Penn State started the foul game, and racked up eight fouls to force Purdue to the line. The Boilermakers made nine of their 12 free throws to maintain the lead, despite a three-pointer, a layup, and four free throws in a nine-point effort from Newbill.
Hammons scored a game-high 23 points, shooting 7-10 and pulling down nine rebounds to give the Boilermakers the edge. Raphael Davis added nine points and sparked a 10-2 run in the second half.
Newbill moved into fourth place on Penn State’s all-time scoring list with the loss.
Penn State previously fell to Purdue during the regular season in an 84-77 overtime loss on January 17.
Photo credit: GoPSUSports.com
