L.J. Cason scored all 14 of his points in the first half and No. 2 Michigan remained unbeaten by escaping with a 74-72 Big Ten victory over Penn State on Tuesday night in University Park, Pa.
Michigan led by 15 with under 11 minutes to play, but nearly lost at the buzzer. Penn State’s Freddie Dilione V controlled the ball for the last shot, but his 25-foot fadeaway from the wing bounced off the back rim as time expired.
Nimari Burnett and Trey McKenney added 12 points apiece for the Wolverines (14-0, 4-0 Big Ten), who share the conference lead with Nebraska (15-0, 4-0). Yaxel Lendeborg had 10 points and seven rebounds for Michigan, which has 10 victories by 25 or more points this season.
Freshman Ivan Juric scored a career-best 20 points and Dilione added 17 for the Nittany Lions (9-6, 0-4). Josh Reed contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds as Penn State lost for the fifth time in six games.
Nittany Lions leading scorer Kayden Mingo (undisclosed) missed the contest after being injured in Monday’s practice.
Penn State trailed by eight with three minutes left before Reed made two free throws, Melih Tunca knocked down a 3-pointer and Eli Rice canned two free throws to trim Michigan’s lead to 73-72 with 1:04 left.
The Nittany Lions had a chance to take the lead, but Dilione’s jumper was off the mark with 16 seconds left. Aday Mara (7 points, 7 rebounds) collected the rebound, was fouled and split two free throws to give Michigan a 2-point lead with 15.1 seconds to play.
Dilione spent several seconds dribbling near midcourt on the final possession before getting off a hurried shot just before the buzzer.
Michigan shot 45.6% from the field, including 8 of 27 from 3-point range.
The Nittany Lions made 34.8% of their shots and were 8 of 30 from behind the arc, but the smaller squad outrebounded the Wolverines by a 43-38 count.
Michigan led by nine at halftime and four consecutive points from Lendeborg gave the Wolverines a 53-40 lead with 15:14 remaining.
Penn State crept within seven before Michigan went on an 8-0 run. McKenney’s layup capped it for a 63-48 lead with 10:41 left.
The Nittany Lions responded with 12 straight points to pull within three. Juric had seven points during the run and Dilione ended it with a 3-pointer with 7:13 left.
Mara’s jumper with 6:55 remaining ended the Penn State flurry and represented Michigan’s first points in nearly four minutes. Lendeborg made two free throws with 5:12 left to make it a 7-point margin.
Dilione hit another trey with 4:58 remaining as Penn State moved within 67-63. Elliott Cadeau responded with four straight points to push Michigan’s lead to eight with 4:01 to play.
The Wolverines led 40-31 at halftime.
–Field Level Media
