Qudus Wahab posted 19 points and 15 rebounds and Ace Baldwin Jr. registered 17 points and 11 assists Sunday as Penn State topped visiting Maryland 85-69 at University Park, Pa. in the regular-season finale for both Big Ten schools.
RayQuawndis Mitchell (14 points), Puff Johnson (13) and Nick Kern (10) also scored in double figures for the Nittany Lions (15-16, 9-11 Big Ten), who snapped a two-game skid. Penn State outrebounded Maryland 47-26 and shot 48.4 percent from the field, compared to 37.9 percent for the visitors.
The Terrapins (15-16, 7-13) dropped their third straight game and failed to sweep the season series from Penn State. Jahmir Young (16 points) and Jamie Kaiser Jr. (13) were the leading scorers for Maryland.
Early in the second half, the hosts went on a 15-2 run to take control of the game.
Mitchell began the burst with a 3-pointer to give Penn State a 47-42 lead. Following buckets by Jameel Brown and Johnson, a 3-pointer by Baldwin gave the Nittany Lions their first double-digit lead of the contest.
Mitchell made a 3-pointer of his own shortly thereafter before Wahab’s jumper made it 59-44.
The Nittany Lions led comfortably the rest of the way. The closest the Terps got was within 72-60 with about six minutes left, but Baldwin hit a 3-pointer and Wahab converted a layup to push the lead back to 17.
The game was tied late in the first half before Penn State scored the final four points of the period to go ahead 36-32 at the break.
Young led all scorers with 11 points in the first half, but Maryland shot just 34.5 percent as a team and 3 of 14 from 3-point range.
The Terps’ Deshawn Harris-Smith opened the second half with a 3-pointer, but the Nittany Lions responded with six straight points, including four by Kern.
–Field Level Media
