Penn State played on Leap Day, Feb. 29, for the first time since knocking off Kent State, 61-51, in Rec Hall in 1972 but couldn’t do the same to Purdue, losing 80-56.
Tim Frazier had another stellar night, scoring 24 points while adding six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Trey Lewis saw his first significant action since returning from his back injury, scoring eight points.
The Nittany Lions were able to hold their own against a Boilermaker team celebrating Senior Night. Penn State even held a 30-29 lead with 4:33 left in the first half.
The Boilermakers started the second half strong, extending their 37-32 halftime lead to 48-32 in the opening four minutes of the half. Senior Robbie Hummel finished with 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists in his final home game.
Penn State was unable to recover from Purdue’s hot start in the second half and never challenged the lead again in the game.
Penn State will return to the Bryce Jordan Center on Sunday for Senior Day in a 1 p.m. tip vs. No. 13 Michigan on ESPN. Penn State will honor Cammeron Woodyard and Billy Oliver approximately 15 minutes before tip-off of Sunday’s final home game.
Notes–
Senior guard Cammeron Woodyard did not play in the game and is likely to miss the remainder of the season after suffering a fracture in his right foot during shooting drills towards the end of Penn State’s Wednesday morning shoot-around in West Lafayette.
Penn State fell to 2-16 in Mackey Arena, losing for the sixth-straight time at the Mackey Arena.
Frazier had six assists on the night giving him 189 on the year tying Talor Battle’s mark set in 2009.
Frazier logged his Big Ten leading 16th 20-point game of the season.
