Maryland men’s basketball was dominated in the second half by Penn State en route to an 85-69 loss to conclude the 2023-24 regular season.
The Terps were out-rebounded, 47-26, against the Nittany Lions and allowed 60% shooting from the floor in the second half. Ace Baldwin Jr. led all scorers with 17 points as one of five Nittany Lions in double figures, while Jahmir Young led the Terps with 16 points.
Maryland went into State College with Julian Reese listed as questionable with an ankle injury picked up in practice during the week, and the team’s leading presence inside was not available against Penn State. It was a rough start for the Terps, who replaced Reese with Traore to start, as a turnover on the first possession spelled trouble.
“[Reese] tweaked his ankle on I think it was Wednesday,” Maryland head coach Kevin Willard said. “We took two days off and it wasn't anything serious. But you know, when someone logs that many minutes, all season long, you gotta make sure you protect your guy.”
Donta Scott was the lone Terp to get going early, scoring the team’s first six points on a solo 6-0 run. This run gave the Terps their first lead of the game, but it would be short-lived. Penn State attacked back and widened the lead as big as seven points, putting the Terps in an early hole.
Maryland spent the majority of the half fighting to get even and struck fire with a reserve lineup. Caelum Swanton-Rodger had a strong individual effort, an offensive rebound turned into a tough bucket at the rim, and a pair of free throws to get the offense going.
“[Swanton-Rodger] is used to coming off the bench and I thought Cal came in and gave us good minutes,” Willard said. “Once he got tired, you know, he's not used to playing those minutes, that's kind of where our breakdowns started.”
The Terps put together an 8-0 run across just over a minute of play late in the first to take a lead. Jamie Kaiser Jr. hit a big time three off a dribble and got a dunk to answer a Nittany Lion bucket, giving the Terps some hope. A collapse came though in the final minutes of the half as Penn State put together a 7-1 run to grab a lead.
Maryland trailed, 36-32, heading into the locker room despite both teams having similar success shooting the ball, but the Nittany Lions’ edge on the glass was the difference. Jahmir Young led all scorers with 11 points, while Donta Scott added eight of his own in the first half.
The Terps allowed Penn State to grab control to start the second half, giving up a 6-0 run and allowing the deficit to grow to seven points before fighting back to make it a two-point game. Once they did, the Nittany Lions pounced right back and expanded the lead to 15 points with 12 and a half minutes left in the second half.
Maryland struggled to put much together down the stretch of this game with Penn State maintaining its lead and building the Terps’ deficit as large as 17 points. Willard put Jahnathan Lamothe on the floor with Noah Batchelor, DeShawn Harris-Smith, Kaiser, and Mady Traore for the final minutes of the loss.
“It just takes kids a while,” Willard said. “I think [Batchelor] is eventually going to have the light go off. But I thought Jamie was aggressive, which was great, and I thought DeShawn was the best player on the court.”
With the loss, Maryland is locked in as the No. 12 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, facing No. 13 seed Rutgers on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in Minneapolis. A stretch of five wins and five days will be needed to make the NCAA Tournament.
“It's been a really disappointing year, really frustrating year,” Willard said. “Understanding the way I built the roster a little bit, I put a lot of pressure on these young kids to be honest with you. That's the one thing I wish I could have re-done, maybe get someone that did not put so much pressure on, even though I've seen them grow up and I'm really, really excited about Jamie and DeShawn, I put a lot of pressure on them.”
