Penn State Ousted From Big Ten Tournament Contention: 'It Stinks But It's Reality'

After yet another close loss, this time to Maryland, the Nittany Lions are eliminated from playing in the Big Ten men's basketball tournament.

Penn State Nittany Lions guard Ace Baldwin reaches for the rebound during the second half against the Maryland Terrapins at Bryce Jordan Center. / Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

After yet another close loss, this time at home to Maryland on Senior Day, Penn State was eliminated from contention for the Big Ten Basketball Tournament. The Nittany Lions fell 68-64 to the 16th-ranked Terrapins on Saturday, leaving them with one game left in their season. For the first time since the Big Ten Tournament began in 1998, Penn State will not be part of the field.

"It stinks but it's reality," Penn State men's basketball coach Mike Rhoades told reporters in State College after the game. "Doesn't always go the way you want, but it keeps going, so you've got to respond and keep plugging away. It's disappointing. I'm disappointed, our guys are without a doubt disappointed, but you've got to go through it."

The Nittany Lions (15-15 overall) fell to 5-14 in Big Ten play are are 17th in the conference with one regular-season game remaining at Wisconsin. Even with a victory over the Badgers, Penn State cannot win any tiebreakers to make the 15-team Big Ten Tournament field. Rhoades this week criticized the new tournament format, saying it's "ridiculous" that the entire conference no longer qualifies. However, Penn State also has primarily itself to blame, considering the grueling repetitiveness of its Big Ten losses.

The loss to Maryland was Penn State's ninth this season by six or fewer points in conference play, the most among Big Ten teams. The Nittany Lions have been within four points in the final 2 minutes in 10 of their 15 losses this season. That was the case again Saturday, as Maryland led by two points with 1:39 remaining.

After Penn State's Zach Hicks rebounded a missed Maryland free throw, the Nittany Lions missed their last three shots of the game. Point guard Ace Baldwin Jr. missed two in the final 44 seconds, including a jumper that could have tied the score. After the game, Rhoades said he wanted Baldwin to have the ball late in that situation.

"We wanted to keep the ball in his hands to make the right play," Rhoades said.

Penn State kept the game close throughout the second half, as Maryland (22-6) never led by more than six points. However, Rhoades lamented the 16 turnovers that Penn State committed which led to 21 Maryland points.

"I really thought our guys battled," Rhoades said. "I thought we competed throughout. We had a good approach the last two days with where we're at in the league. Our guys came to battle. [We had] too many unforced turnovers that led to points that we couldn't defend."

Baldwin, who scored a team-high 18 points in his final game at the Bryce Jordan Center, was 8-for-8 from the foul line but just 4-for-11 from the field. D'Marco Dunn had 14 points and a career-high eight rebounds. Penn State shot 40 percent from the field.

Without a postseason to play for, Penn State will spend the next week preparing for its final game of the season. The Nittany Lions visit Wisconsin on March 8 to say farewell to seniors Baldwin, Dunn, Hicks, Nick Kern Jr. and Puff Johnson. Rhoades wants the group to go out the right way.

"Do it right for the name on the front [of the jersey], do it right for the name on the back," Rhoades said. "This is the last week we'll be together, this team here with these seniors. Do it right, do everything right. If you're about the right stuff and if you care about your teammates, you'll approach this week the right way as a basketball player. Let's go see what happens at Wisconsin on Saturday, because we get to put the uniform on again."

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