STATE COLLEGE, PA – Maryland men's basketball was defeated by Penn State, 85-69, on Sunday at Bryce Jordan Center in the regular-season finale.
With the loss, Maryland (15-16, 7-13 B1G) secured the No. 12 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will play No. 13 seed Rutgers on Wednesday, March 13 in the first game of the tournament, at 6:30 p.m. ET. The game will air on Peacock. Penn State (15-16, 9-11 B1G) will be the No. 11 seed and play Michigan.
Penn State took control of the game thanks to a 15-2 run midway through the second half to extend a 44-42 lead to 59-44 with 12:29 left in the game.
With Jahmir Young's 16 points, he set a career-best single-season scoring mark. He has 623 points on the season and surpassed his previous best of 608 points during the 2021-22 season at Charlotte. Young also led the Terps with seven rebounds on the night.
Freshman Jamie Kaiser, Jr. contributed 11 points off the bench.
Noah Batchelor also came off the bench to score a career-high nine points on 3-of-7 from three-point range.
Penn State (15-16, 9-11 B1G) was led by former Terp Qudus Wahab's 19 points and 15 rebounds. Ace Baldwin Jr. added 17 points and 11 assists. Five Nittany Lions scored in double-figures.
The Terps split the regular season matchups with the Nittany Lions this season. They previously won 81-75 on Dec 6, 2023 at XFINITY Center to begin Big Ten play.
Breaking Down The Action
- Penn State went on a 7-0 run leading into the first media timeout. Maryland trailed 11-6 and Donta Scott scored all of its points.
- The Terps cut the Nittany Lions' lead to three points at the second media timeout and trailed 18-15. Jahari Long came off the bench and knocked down a big three-pointer. Caelum Swanton-Rodger also entered the game and promptly scored a bucket under the rim.
- Maryland took its first lead since early in the first half with a three-pointer by Jamie Kaiser, Jr at 5:19. The Terps led 27-24 after an 8-0 run.
- Maryland entered the locker room trailing 36-32. It was in striking distance after receiving strong bench performances from Swanton-Rodger, Kaiser and Long. Jahmir Young paced all scorers with 11 points and Donta Scott followed with eight.
- Penn State pulled ahead 42-35 with a brief 6-0 run at the first media timeout of the second half. It later sparked a 15-2 run to mount its largest lead of the game of 15 points with the score 59-44. The Nittany Lions made seven straight shots from the floor.
- The run proved to be the deciding factor as the Terps were unable to close the gap.
Double-Figure Factors
- Jahmir Young (16 points) dropped double-figures for the 135th time in his career and the 29th time in 30 games he's played this season. It's also the 26th game in a row that he's played and scored double-digits.
- Jamie Kaiser, Jr. (11 points) posted double-figures for the fourth time this season as a freshman.
Fear The Jahmir
- With 16 points in the game, Jahmir Young added to his career scoring total and now has 2,597 points. He is the second-leading active scorer in the nation behind Texas' Max Abmas (3,073).
- Young entered Sunday's game as the third-leading scorer in the Big Ten and the No. 16 scorer nationally at 20.9 points per game.
- Young is one of four active players with 2000 points, 600 rebounds and 450 assists. He holds career totals of 2,597 points, 766 rebounds and 492 assists.
- Against Rutgers on Feb. 6, Young became the sixth NCAA player since 2006 to post 1,000 points at two different institutions after scoring 1,421 at Charlotte from 2019-22. He now has 1,176 points in his two seasons at Maryland. He was the third-fastest player to reach that milestone and the fifth player in program history to do so in just two seasons.
- Young posted the 51st 500-point season in program history on Feb. 14. He now has 623 points this season which is a career-best and ranks 15th for a single season in program history.
- Young will be the first Terp since Greivis Vasquez in 2009-10 to average over 20 points, four rebounds, and four assists per game. Entering the matchup, Young averages 20.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
Scott Climbing Up Charts
- Donta Scott scored eight points, increasing his career total to 1,670 He is No. 14 on Maryland's all-time list and 35 points from passing Walt Williams (1988-92).
- Scott grabbed two rebounds to increase his career total to 851, which is ninth all-time. He's just nine from passing Tom McMillen (1971-74) with 859 rebounds.
- Scott knocked down one three-pointer to bring his total to 209, which is fourth in program history. He's 15 from passing Eric Ayala 2018-22.
- Scott broke the program record for starts by passing Steve Blake (1999-2003) earlier this year. He added to that number with his 144th career start over his five-year career. It was also his 160th game as a Terp to add to his other all-time record.
- Scott is one of five players in program history to have 1,500 points and 800 rebounds in a career. He joined Lonny Baxter (1,858 & 998), Tom McMillen (1,807 & 859), Keith Booth (1,776 & 916) and Terence Morris (1,733 & 925) earlier this year.
Numbers To Know
- 1: Entering the matchup, the Terps allowed 65 points per game, ranking first in the Big Ten and 18th nationally.
- 3: Freshman Jamie Kaiser, Jr. notched his third career double-digit scoring game.
- 4: Jahmir Young started his fourth streak of 20 or more free throws made. He made 22 straight before missing one late in the second half.
- 6: Maryland picked up its sixth win of the season when trailing at halftime.
- 8: The Terps are eighth-best nationally in defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com.
- 9: Noah Batchelor scored a career-high nine points with three three-pointers.
- 12: Maryland secured the 12th seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
- 623: Young's scoring total for the season, which is a career-best.
- 2,597: Young's career points - 2nd most nationally for an active player.
Up Next
- Maryland will enter the 2024 Big Ten Tournament as the No. 12 seed and will face Rutgers on Wednesday, March 13 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The game is scheduled to tip at 6:30 PM ET and will be streamed on Peacock and will be carried on the Maryland Sports Radio Network.
