After a 1-1 week in Big Ten play, Penn State basketball remains jockeying for one of the final 15 spots for the conference tournament in March.
On Jan. 20 Penn State ended a four-game losing streak before losing by one to Iowa on Friday. In that loss, PSU had three chances in the final 53 seconds to win the game but came up short. The Nittany Lions are now 1-5 in Quad 1 games and 1-2 in Quad 2 matchups. Its lone win came against Purdue, which ranked 10th in Monday’s AP Poll.
Penn State is in a four-way tie for 13th place in the Big Ten but is only two games up from the 18th slot. While the remaining nine teams Penn State is yet to play in the Big Ten have a combined league record of 34-42, so far these games have often come down to the final moments, which has been problematic for PSU.
In six of its seven losses this season, Penn State has been within four points in the final two minutes. Over the last four games, in which PSU has gone 1-3, the Nittany Lions are outscoring its opponents 321-320. With such a narrow margin for error, Penn State will look to flip the outcomes in its favor over the final 11 games of the season.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.The Nittany Lions’ 12-2 start to the season, which was the best in five years for the program, seems distant since Penn State has gone 2-5 in January. All five of those losses have been in conference play, which Mike Rhoades’ squad has gone 3-6 in this season. On Monday, PSU will take on Michigan — who dropped out of the AP Poll after a 27-point loss to Purdue — and will then travel back to State College for a meeting with Ohio State. Those two games will round out a nine-game month for the Nittany Lions.
Tipoff for Penn State’s game at Michigan is scheduled for Monday at 6:30 p.m.
