Maryland (16-10, 5-8 Big Ten) had no answer Feb. 7 for Penn State (17-9, 7-6) sophomore forward Lamar Stevens, who netted 25 points on 10-for-12 shooting and helped lead the Nittany Lions to a 74-70 victory in Happy Valley.
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“[Stevens] made some incredible shots--fade aways, 15-17-footers over a hand, but I did think we gave him a few layups early,” Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon said after the game. “But he was terrific. He was so efficient.”
Stevens added four rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal to his totals, but he wasn’t the only Nittany Lion to stuff the stat sheet on Wednesday night.
Penn State sophomore point guard Tony Carr scored 16 points to go along with six assists, and junior wing Josh Reaves finished with 14 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore center Mike Watkins, who had 17 points and 17 rebounds in Penn State’s first meeting with Maryland this season, was much quieter this time around but still had 11 points, five rebounds, and three steals.
Turgeon repeatedly said, “My guys battled,” in his postgame press conference, and while the Terps showed some fight at points in the game, stretches of poor defense and rebounding as well as 14 costly turnovers led to Maryland’s sixth consecutive conference road loss.
“They’re good,” Turgeon said. “Their starting lineup is terrific. Lamar Stevens was off the charts tonight. We had no answer for him. Besides that I thought we competed. But these last couple of games now when we absolutely have to have rebounds we just haven’t been able to get them. And we have to figure it out. I mean, we’re playing four guards and we have to figure out how to get those rebounds. But we battled. I didn’t think we competed in the first half defensively, but I thought in the second half we really tried hard.”
Maryland finished the game with a minus-four rebound margin overall, but it was the offensive boards where the Terps struggled most. The Nittany Lions collected nine offensive rebounds to Maryland’s four, and the second-chance points were more than enough to make all the difference in the game.
With senior center Michal Cekovsky missing his third straight game with a heel injury, freshman Bruno Fernando manned most of the duties in the frontcourt on Wednesday night and finished with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds, but also committed a game-high six turnovers.
Sophomore point guard Anthony Cowan led the Terps in scoring with 15 points, five assists, and three steals. His backcourt mate Kevin Huerter finished with 13 points and five rebounds, but nine of his points were in the first half as he faded away late in the game.
Like Huerter, Terps senior wing Jared Nickens committed four turnovers, but also matching Huerter, he scored 13 points against the Nittany Lions. Maryland freshman Darryl Morsell also netted himself 10 points, but five double-digit scorers weren’t enough to end the Terps’ Big Ten road drought.
Maryland will look to right the ship when it travels back home to College Park to take on Northwestern Feb. 10. The Terps’ next chance to get a conference road win will be Feb. 13 at Nebraska.
