Penn State defeated the Michigan Wolverines' basketball team tonight, 72-63, at Crisler Center.
Here's how the entire contest unfolded:
First Half
Senior guard Zavier Simpson got the Wolverines on the board first tonight with a driving layup at 19:02, knotting the game up at 2-2.
The Nittany Lions grabbed a 9-2 lead less than two minutes into the contest, however, forcing the Maize and Blue to call a timeout.
Penn State senior forward Lamar Stevens had already poured in seven of his club's first nine points at that juncture.
A hook shot by senior center Jon Teske at 16:49 cut the margin to 9-6, and that's where things stood at the under-16 media timeout.
An and-1 by PSU fifth-year senior center Mike Watkins increased Penn State's lead to 12-6, though, and sophomore forward Brandon Johns converted a lay-in in traffic on the other end to make it 12-8.
Junior guard Eli Brooks drained a triple at 13:54 to trim PSU's lead to 15-11, and the junior then beat the entire Penn State defense down the court for an easy layup following a Nittany Lion miss to make it 15-13.
Michigan's impressive run continued when a driving layup by Simpson tied the game at 15-all with 12:36 remaining in the half, and redshirt junior center Austin Davis gave the team its first lead (17-15) with a layup at 11:55. Brooks assisted on the play.
U-M held a 19-15 lead at the under-12 timeout, and was enjoying an 11-0 run at that point.
The Nittany Lions took the lead back, however, when sophomore guard Myreon Jones hit a deep two to put his club up 23-21 with 8:37 remaining in the half, and then nailed a corner three on PSU's next possession to make it 26-21.
The margin was increased to nine (30-21) following a dunk by junior center John Harrar in transition, and the Nittany Lions held a 30-23 lead at the under-4 timeout following a 14-2 run.
The Maize and Blue were shooting a dismal 1-of-9 from three at that point, with Brooks' aforementioned triple being the only connection.
A much-needed three-pointer from Johns with 2:36 to go cut the deficit to 30-26, but Jones then went on a 5-0 run of his own to stretch his club's advantage right back to 35-26.
Johns also converted a reverse layup with just 55 seconds remaining in the half to make the score 35-28, and Penn State took a 37-28 lead into the break following a missed floater by Simpson to end the half.
Second Half
Penn State opened the second half on a 7-3 run to grab its biggest lead of the night (44-31) with 17:15 remaining, with U-M's only bucket during that span being a triple by Simpson at 18:18.
The Wolverines received a much-needed break when PSU guard Seth Lundy was called for an intentional foul, and freshman guard Franz Wagner subsequently drained both free throws to cut the deficit to 44-33.
Brooks was then fouled on a three on Michigan's next possession at 16:18, and connected on two of the free throws to cut PSU's lead to 44-35, and that's where things stood at the under-16 timeout.
The Wolverines went on a 6-0 run with all six points coming at the charity stripe to make the score 44-37, before a hook shot by Simpson made it 44-39 with 13:40 remaining in the game.
Penn State took some of the momentum back, however, when Jones drained a three to stretch PSU's lead back to nine (49-40), before sophomore guard David DeJulius connected on two free throws to trim the margin back to seven (49-42).
A triple by Penn State's Curtis Jones at 11:30 put the Nittany Lions up 52-42, though a Brooks and-1 on the other end once again sliced it to 52-45.
A 6-0 PSU run took a lot of the air building, as it held a 58-45 edge at the under-8 timeout.
U-M was shooting a dismal 33 percent for the game at that point and only 17 percent from downtown.
Wagner finally drilled a triple with 6:49 remaining to make it 60-48 (was 1-of-6 from deep at that point), and a Simpson hook shot with 5:09 remaining cut the deficit to 10 (62-52).
The crowd erupted when a Simpson three-pointer with 3:44 to go made the score 62-57, but PSU crushed U-M's hopes with a quick 5-0 run to go back up 67-57, all but ending the game.
The struggles from deep continued as Teske missed one with 13 seconds left, dropping the club's stat line from three to 5-of-28.
Johns threw down a dunk with 3.8 seconds left, cementing the final score of 72-63.
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