Michigan basketball crumbles in second half of 79-73 loss to Penn State in Philly
Michigan basketball, which had a double-digit lead early, struggled after halftime and fell to Penn State, 79-73, on Sunday at The Palestra in Philadelphia.
Terrance Williams II led the Wolverines (6-9, 1-3 Big Ten) with 24 points, a new career high, and Olivier Nkamhoua added 13 points and nine rebounds. Dug McDaniel added 11 points and five assists and Nimari Burnett scored 10 and had six rebounds.
Ace Baldwin Jr. led Penn State with 25 points (8-for-13 shooting; 9 of 10 free throws) and Kanye Clary added 18 as the Nittany Lions outscored the Wolverines, 52-36 after halftime.
Michigan had 19 turnovers and went 13-for-20 from the free-throw line (65%).
The Wolverines led by as many as 14 late in the first half and took a 37-27 lead into halftime. But Penn State opened the second half with a 14-5 spurt, thanks to seven points by Clary, to cut U-M's lead to 42-41. The game remained nip-and-tuck, and, after two Baldwin Jr. free throws, the Nittany Lions took their first lead of the game with 11:34 left when, a U-M turnover turned into D'Marco Dunn (13 points) transition 3-pointer to go up, 51-49.
But that was just the start. After a timeout, Penn State corralled an offensive rebound and found Dunn for another 3. On the next trip, Michigan again turned the ball over as Dunn intercepted a pass and drove in for a layup to give Penn State a 56-49 lead.
During the 10-0 Nittany Lions run, Michigan shot 0-for-2 and had three turnovers, including one on an offensive foul.
U-M eventually cut the lead to 58-54 on a Burnett 3-pointer, but Penn State answered with a 7-0 run in which the Wolverines came up empty on three straight possessions, but them in a 65-54 hole with 5 minutes to go.
A Will Tschetter 3-pointer with 1:04 remaining trimmed the lead to six, and with 44 seconds left, a Williams 3 cut the lead to five. After another split of two free throws by Penn State, Williams' layup with 27 seconds left cut it to 75-71. But U-M would get no closer.
Michigan visits Maryland on Thursday.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball crumbles in 2nd half of 79-73 loss to Penn State
