Penn State’s Upset Bid Falls Short Against Michigan

Story posted February 17, 2013 in CommRadio, Sports by Zach Hottinger

Fresh off a close loss at home against Iowa on Thursday, the Penn State Nittany Lions hoped to bounce back on Sunday against the Michigan Wolverines at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, MI.

The game was a close contest throughout, but in the end Michigan (22-4, 9-4) topped the Nittany Lions 79-71, as Penn State (8-17, 0-13) dropped yet another conference game.

A major bright spot for Penn State has been its offense, which has come alive lately scoring over 70 points in their last two games, something they have only done once before in this season.

In the first half Penn State surprised Michigan when the Nittany Lions grabbed a 30-25 lead with 2:24 left in the first half. The Nittany Lions led by as many as eight in the first half and were tied going into the break. 

In the second half, every time Michigan looked like they were going to pull away, Penn State clawed right back. Senior Nick Colella had a couple big three's to keep his team close in the second half, but Trey Burke and company proved to be too lethal down the stretch as they sealed the deal.

Penn State didn't have an answer for Michigan on the interior, especially with the aerial attack of Glenn Robinson III. Robinson III had numerous plays under the basket where he finished with monster dunks in the second half.

Trey Burke's ability to get to the hoop and either score or kick it out to the wing to sharpshooter Nik Stauskas also doomed the Nittany Lions in the last 20 minutes of play.

The two players that contributed most for Michigan were Robinson III, who tied his career high with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Also heavily involved in the mix was Burke who contributed a season high 29 points for the Wolverines.

Across the court, Penn State forward Sasa Borovnjak had a big game for the Nittany Lions racking up 17 points, four rebounds and three assists, while shooting 7-of-9 from field goal range.

Other contributors for Penn State included Ross Travis who achieved a double-double performance with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while D.J. Newbill and Jermaine Marshall also were in double digits with 11 for Newbill and 17 for Marshall.

Penn State has only five games remaining for the 2012-2013 season with 2 home games and 3 road games, the next of which being Thursday Feb. 21 at Illinois.

Michigan and Penn State will battle again in 10 days at the Bryce Jordan Center on Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m. on ComRadio.

Zach Hottinger is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, e-mail zsh5015@psu.edu.