Lions swallowed whole in Lincoln

The Nittany Lions never had it.

Traveling to Lincoln, Neb., to face a Cornhusker team that had beaten it by double-digits in each of the past four meetings on the road, a quick deficit only got worse as the night progressed. Trailing 13-6 just seconds after the first media timeout, a 22-20 deficit would be the last real threat the Nittany Lions posed.

Instead, the Nittany Lions allowed 55 percent shooting from the floor Tuesday night, ultimately dropping an 82-66 clunker to the Cornhuskers. The loss dropped the Nittany Lions to 14-13 for the season and 6-8 against Big Ten competition with four games remaining before the conference tournament.

Leading the way for the Nittany Lions again were true freshmen Tony Carr and Lamar Stevens with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Saddled by another Jekyll and Hyde performance from junior shooters Shep Garner and Payton Banks, however, hitting a combined 5 of 21 shots and just 1 of 12 from the arc, the Nittany Lions were a polar opposite to their personality in either of two previous wins against Maryland and Illinois.

Meanwhile, the Cornhuskers could do no wrong.

Pounding the ball to freshman center Jordy Tshimanga, who produced 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting en route to Nebraska’s 24 first half points in the paint, the Cornhuskers were dominant inside. Simultaneously badly out-rebounded to the tune of 40-29, the Lions’ shortcomings were magnified on both ends of the floor.

The second half wouldn't get much better. Though a Garner jumper in the first two minutes cut the deficit to 6 points, Nebraska quickly produced a 9-2 run to boost the lead to 13. Minutes later, the dam would burst, another 11-2 run creating a 65-47 game with more than 10 minutes on the game clock.

Penn State will have the weekend off before returning to action next Tuesday, Feb. 21, when the Nittany Lions host Purdue.