Penn State wrapped up the regular season with a (FINAL SCORE)win over Maryland at the Bryce Jordan Center Sunday night.
Seven seniors were honored before the game and it was those same seniors who led the way for the Nittany Lions. Four of the seven seniors had double-digit nights for Penn State.
Ace Baldwin, Jr. and Qudus Wahab each notched double-doubles with Baldwin scoring 17 points while also adding 11 assists while Wahab scored 19 points and hauled in 15 rebounds.
Wahab’s post-presence helped the Nittany Lions to beat the Terrapins on the boards by a 47-26 total rebound margin. Penn State also outscored Maryland in the paint as the Nittany Lions scored 42 points to the Terrapins 28.
While the play in the post and performances of Baldwin and Wahab were integral in the victory, it was the performances by their fellow seniors in Puff Johnson and RayQuawndis Mitchell that truly stole the show.
Johnson scored 13 points coming off his season-high 19-point performance against Minnesota the last time Penn State was on the court. Mitchell chipped in 14 points off the bench including a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
Leo O’Boyle had two points in the first half to round out the senior scoring as Dan Conlan and Andy Christos failed to tally points after entering the game with under two minutes remaining.
Getting key contributions like those from Johnson and Mitchell set the Nittany Lions up nicely with a matchup against Michigan in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament which starts on Wednesday. Penn State beat the Wolverines in their lone matchup this season which came at The Palestra in January.
It’s not unfathomable to see the Nittany Lions make a run in the Big Ten Tournament as they will face teams they beat in the regular season in Michigan, Indiana, and possibly Illinois if they win three games and take down Nebraska.
