Penn State Suffers Crucial Road Loss to Nebraska

Story posted February 5, 2023 in

While searching for their second true road win of the season, Penn State couldn’t get it done Sunday afternoon in Lincoln, falling to Nebraska 72-63.

The Nittany Lions looked to rebound after a frustrating 80-60 loss against the No. 1 ranked Purdue Boilermakers in West Lafayette.

Coming into the game, Penn State had already beaten the Cornhuskers this season as they won 76-65 inside the Bryce Jordan Center on Jan. 21. The Nittany Lions were just 1-5 on the road entering the game.

Nebraska came out of the gate hot and were firing on all cylinders to start the game. Keisei Tominaga had the hot hand early and shot his way to 10 points within the first eight minutes of action.

It was a game of runs for both teams in the first half as the Cornhuskers went on a 9-0 run after the under-16 media timeout. Penn State responded with a 7-0 run of their own after the under-12 media timeout.

For every punch the Nittany Lions threw, Nebraska responded in kind. After the short run from Penn State, Nebraska continued their hot start in the first half and went on a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 15 with a little over four minutes remaining in the half.

Seth Lundy finished the half with a pair of triples to bring the Nittany Lions within nine as Nebraska headed into halftime with a 37-28 lead.

Lundy finished with 15 points in the first half while Nebraska’s Keisei Tominaga contributed 14 for the Cornhuskers.

The stellar play of Tominaga continued after the break and he caused havoc for the Nittany Lions defense. He slashed for layups and extended his range to make numerous three-pointers en route to a 30-point performance.

Seth Lundy kept the Nittany Lions in the game throughout the second half and buried an impressive eight three-pointers total. His play allowed Penn State to trail by only four with 3:21 left in the game.

Penn State would attempt to claw their way back into the game and capture the victory at the end, but a Jamarques Lawrence three-pointer put the dagger in the game.

Lundy led the Nittany Lions with 24 points, but Tominaga’s 30 points was too much for Penn State to handle.

It was a disappointing loss for head coach Micah Shrewsberry as they were able to knock down 14 three-pointers as a team, but still came up short.

Nebraska shot 53% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc while Penn State shot just 40% from the field and 37% from downtown.

The Nittany Lions never led in the game and seemed to stall out offensively throughout the first half. On the defensive end, they couldn’t locate shooters and were dominated in the paint, being outscored 32-16 in the paint.

Nebraska improves to 11-13 and 8-3 at home this season while Penn State drops to 14-9 on the season and 1-6 on the road.

The Nittany Lions will return home to the Bryce Jordan Center this Wednesday and seek revenge against the Wisconsin Badgers.

Thomas English is a second-year broadcast journalism major. To contact him, email tfe5082@psu.edu.