Wynter’s second buzzer beater completes Penn State comeback over No. 21 Maryland
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – For the second game in a row, Cam Wynter came up in the clutch as Penn State knocked off No. 21 Maryland, 65-64.
On Wednesday, Wynter hit the game-winning three on the road to topple Northwestern. Then on Senior Day at the Bryce Jordan Center, he converted on a second chance layup with 0.5 seconds left.
It was not skill that allowed the senior to give his team a much-needed win, but sometimes luck is on your side.
“I would just say the right place at the right time,” Wynter said. “The ball came to me, and I just finished it, and I saw the red lights go off.”
Wynter also picked up some help from fellow senior Seth Lundy, who missed the initial shot attempt but followed for the offensive rebound and tipped the ball to his teammate.
The victory on Saturday afternoon didn’t come easily as the Nittany Lions found themselves in an early deficit, down 13 heading into the halftime break, 35-22.
The Terrapins limited Jalen Pickett with their tenacious defense, and they followed it up with an opportune offense to jump out to lead, which got as big as 16.
“We had to switch up our offense and defense a little bit,” Pickett said. “We were trying to do a little bit of post doubles, and we were doubling every kick it out for threes.”
After the opening 20 minutes of play, Maryland was 7-for-17 from beyond the arc, but momentum swung to the blue and white as Pickett drilled an off-balance three at the buzzer to end the half.
During halftime, head coach Micah Shrewsberry wanted to keep his team feeling positive for the second half.
“Coach came in. He said we need to have some more fun, but also more smiles and we just need to attack it a different way,” Pickett said. “And in the second half, we played our hearts out and we knew that if we got it close, we felt like we had a good chance of winning it.”
Shrewsberry also told his team to focus on something other than the score during the final 20 minutes of the game.
“What the second half really boiled down to is we just kept going into the huddle, and talking about four-minute battles, one possession at a time,” Shrewsberry said. “If we're doing the right things, if we're playing the right way, the score takes care of itself.”
The second half also saw two breakout performances from senior sharpshooters Myles Dread and Andrew Funk.
Dread finished with 11 points, all coming in the second half, while Funk notched 14, including 11 in the final frame. At one point, the two combined for four threes in a row to bring Penn State within five, forcing a Maryland timeout with under five minutes to go.
Following the timeout, Shrewsberry went with the same five the rest of the game, Dread, Funk, Lundy, Pickett and Wynter.
“I went with that group. I wasn't going to take them out unless Cam [Wynter] fouled out. I wasn’t subbing,” Shrewsberry said. “I was going to let those dudes play the rest of the game. If we went to seven overtimes, they would’ve stayed in the entire time.”
Saturday was also Senior Day, as Penn State honored its seven seniors, Mikey Henn, Ishaan Jagiasi, Dread, Funk, Lundy, Pickett and Wynter. Dread and Lundy spent their entire careers in Happy Valley, and the emotions were certainly there.
“I said it was going to be emotional. I didn't expect it to be that emotional. It didn't really hit me until right before they announced my name,” Dread said. “After the game, oh man, that's like a storybook ending. You can’t picture it any other way. Feels like a movie.”
With the win, Penn State finishes the regular season campaign with a 19-12 record and clinches the 10-seed and a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago, which begins on Wednesday.
“We're playing our best ball right now, and this is what we've been aiming for all season. Now we're just going to have fun,” Shrewsberry said. “It's going to be a circus in Chicago because anybody can beat anybody on any night.”
Matt Scalzo is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email mms7477@psu.edu and matt.scalzo8@gmail.com.
