Lions battle, but fall to Ducks
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The Associated Press
UNIVERSITY PARK -- Jackson Shelstad scored 17 points, Keeshawn Barthelemy added 15, Jadrian Tracey had 13 and No. 15 Oregon held on to beat Penn State, 82-81, on Sunday.
Nate Bittle had 11 points while TJ Bamba and Kwame Evans Jr. added 10 apiece for the Ducks (15-2, 4-2 Big Ten), who trailed for most of the second half before regaining the lead in the final minute.
The game was tied at 78 with just over a minute to go before Shelstad hit a midrange jumper that put Oregon up two with 47 seconds left. Kern tried a layup the other way, but the shot was off. Oregon gained possession, drew a foul and closed out the game with a pair of Tracey free throws.
"This hurts, because this is a game we could have had, just how it goes," PSU coach Mike Rhoades said. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I'm not doing that. It's a game we could have won, we should have won. We didn't win."
Freddie Dilione V scored a career-high 21 points, Nick Kern added 19 and Puff Johnson had 15 for the Nittany Lions (12-5, 2-4) who lost their third in a row.
Takeaways
Oregon: The Ducks led 41-34 at halftime and had to overcome a sloppy early second half. They came up with shots when they needed them to win their third straight.
Penn State: The Nittany Lions were without star point guard Ace Baldwin Jr. who suffered a back injury in the team's 91-52 loss to No. 13 Illinois on Jan. 8. They'll need to get their leading scorer and setup man back to try and snap out of a three-game losing skid that includes two losses to AP Top 25 teams.
Key stat
The Ducks made 5 of 11 3-pointers in the first half but were just 3-for-11 shooting beyond the arc in the second.
Up next
Oregon: The Ducks host No. 20 Purdue on Saturday.
Penn State: The Nittany Lions visit No. 16 Michigan State on Wednesday.
OREGON (15-2): Angel 1-3 1-2 3, Bittle 5-11 0-0 11, Bamba 3-9 4-4 10, Shelstad 7-10 0-0 17, Tracey 4-8 4-5 13, Barthelemy 6-11 0-0 15, Evans 4-4 2-2 10, S.Cook 1-1 1-6 3. Totals 31-57 12-19 82.
PENN ST. (12-5): Hicks 5-11 2-2 14, Konan Niederhauser 4-7 0-0 8, Dilione 6-12 5-6 21, Kern 8-20 3-4 19, Johnson 6-10 2-2 15, Dunn 2-3 0-0 4, Nzeh 0-0 0-0 0, Stewart 0-3 0-0 0, J.Carter 0-1 0-0 0, Goodman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-68 12-14 81.
Halftime--Oregon 41-34. 3-Point Goals--Oregon 8-22 (Shelstad 3-5, Barthelemy 3-6, Tracey 1-3, Bittle 1-4, Angel 0-1, Bamba 0-3), Penn St. 7-19 (Dilione 4-6, Hicks 2-7, Johnson 1-3, Konan Niederhauser 0-1, Stewart 0-2). Rebounds--Oregon 28 (Barthelemy 6), Penn St. 32 (Kern 8). Assists--Oregon 22 (Shelstad 8), Penn St. 13 (Hicks, Kern 4). Total Fouls--Oregon 11, Penn St. 15. A--8,972 (15,261).