Camren Wynter hit a put-back layup with half a second left as Penn State stunned No. 21 Maryland in a 65-64 win Sunday in University Park, Pa.
Penn State came from 15 points back with 12:11 to play, outscoring the Terrapins 30-14 the rest of the way. Jalen Pickett had 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as Penn State (19-12, 10-10 Big Ten) enhanced its NCAA Tournament resume. Most experts had the Nittany Lions on the bubble.
Jahmir Young scored 26 points and pulled down eight rebounds to lead Maryland (20-11, 11-9). Julian Reese had 12 points, and Ian Martinez and Donald Carey added 11 apiece for the Terrapins, who squandered a chance to earn a key double bye in the upcoming conference tournament.
Penn State was down 50-35 before rallying behind Andrew Funk (14 points), who had a trio of 3-pointers to spark the surge. Myles Dread added a 3-pointer with 4:26 left to whittle the deficit to 59-54. Reese later made a basket for Maryland with 19 seconds left to give the Terrapins a 64-63 lead before Wynter made his game-winning put-back following a missed 3-point jumper by Seth Lundy.
No. 1 Houston 67, Memphis 65
Jamal Shead capped a 16-point performance with a game-winning jumper at the buzzer as the visiting Cougars came from behind to beat the Tigers in the regular-season finale for the American Athletic Conference’s top two teams.
The Cougars (29-2, 17-1 AAC) have won 11 straight games and will be the top seed in the AAC tournament in Fort Worth, Texas. Memphis (23-8, 13-5) is slotted in the No. 2 spot. Both have byes in the first round and will start play on Friday.
A 3-pointer by Memphis’ Kendric Davis (26 points) tied the game at 63-63 with 2:02 to play. Shead then hit a jumper with 1:13 left to put Houston in front. Memphis tied the game again at 65 with Davis’ layup with eight seconds remaining. But Shead took the ball the length of the floor for the game-winning pullup jumper.
No. 5 Purdue 76, Illinois 71
Brandon Newman scored 19 points, added six rebounds and five assists and made four clutch free throws down the stretch to lead the Boilermakers to a victory over the Fighting Illini at West Lafayette, Ind.
Purdue (26-5, 15-5 Big Ten) finished the regular season with back-to-back wins as it enters the upcoming Big Ten tournament as the No. 1 seed, hoping to lock up the same seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Purdue got a solid performance from its guards in a game where it did not need to lean on star center Zach Edey as much. Edey still finished with 17 points and six rebounds.
Illinois (20-11, 11-9 Big Ten), which entered the game being projected as a lock to make the NCAA Tournament, dropped two of its final three. The Illini are the seventh seed and will play 10th-seeded Penn State on Thursday. Matthew Mayer had 16 points and six rebounds to lead the Illini, but he was 1-for-10 from 3-point range.
No. 15 Indiana 75, Michigan 73 (OT)
Trayce Jackson-Davis had 27 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and the Hoosiers edged the Wolverines in overtime in Big Ten play at Bloomington, Ind.
Race Thompson had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Jalen Hood-Schifino tossed in 13 points for Indiana (21-10, 12-8 Big Ten) in the regular-season finale for both teams. Thompson scored the first basket of overtime and Miller Kopp’s jumper gave Indiana a 75-69 lead. Hunter Dickinson answered with a 3-pointer with 1:58 remaining. Neither side scored again until Dug McDaniel made a free throw with six seconds left.
McDaniel intentionally missed the second attempt, but Thompson got the rebound. Thompson missed both free throws, but Michigan didn’t get another shot off. Dickinson’s 24 points and 14 rebounds led the Wolverines (17-14, 11-9).
–Field Level Media
