In Saturday night’s loss at Wisconsin, Penn State’s offense struggled in the first half and picked up the pace in the second half.
Tuesday night against Michigan, the opposite was true. The Nittany Lions scored a respectable 34 points in the first half but were held to just 23 in the second half, falling to Michigan, 58-57.
Penn State (9-10, 4-8) got off to a great start, leading Michigan (12-9, 6-5) 34-23 at the under-four timeout. But the Wolverines ended the half on an 11-0 run, and as a result, the Nittany Lions went into halftime tied. Jalen Pickett led the way for Penn State in the first 20 minutes with 10 points, and for Michigan, 7-foot-1 Hunter Dickinson led all scorers with 13 points, and Elli Brooks contributed nine to account for most of the Wolverines’ scoring.
Penn State didn’t score for the first six-plus minutes of the second half and never retook the lead. Pickett led the Lions with 14 points and Sam Sessoms added 13. For Michigan, Dickinson finished with a game-high 19 points and Brooks added 16.
Penn State’s next game is Saturday night at Minnesota. Tipoff is at 8:30.
