Penn State basketball falls in OT after controversial call

Penn State basketball looked to continue its momentum after the upset over Ohio State last Saturday into Madison Square Garden this afternoon. The matchup with Georgia Tech was the battle between two evenly matched teams that saw a second consecutive double-digit point comeback from the Nittany Lions fall short after a controversial call in overtime helped the Yellow Jackets pull out an 82-81 win.

An evenly matched first half

The first half was evenly matched, with Georgia Tech holding a 39-37 lead at the break. Penn State basketball jumped out early on Georgia Tech and found early success beyond the arc. The lead never stretched beyond 6 points for either side in the half.

Georgia Tech gained its first lead of the game with a pair of free throws to give the Yellow Jackets a 31-29 advantage at the 3:25 mark. The Nittany Lions were once again outrebounded 8 to 26 by the Yellow Jackets. More alarming was the disparity on the offensive glass, in which Georgia Tech had a 10-1 advantage. What kept Penn State in the game, though, was forcing 8 turnovers compared to just 3 forced by Georgia Tech.

Ace Baldwin was the leading scorer for the Nittany Lions, putting up 13 points on 5-7 shooting, including 3-4 from deep. D’Marco Dunn and Kanye Clary continued their momentum from the past few games, each scoring 9 points in the half. Baldwin, Dunn, and Clary had all of Penn State’s field goals in the half.

Tafara Gapare led Georgia Tech and all scorers with 15 points in the 1^st half off the bench. Gapare entered averaging just 3.4 points per game, so the fast start was unexpected.

Second half comeback sends game to overtime

Penn State basketball picked up the intensity both on defense and the glass late in the second half.

The Nittany Lions forced multiple steals to cut the double-digit deficit to 2 with a few minutes left. After leaving multiple possessions empty after cutting the lead to 71-69, Penn State took a 72-71 lead with 1:19 to go in the game.

Georgia Tech would tie the game with a free throw. After an Ace Baldwin missed free throw, the Yellow Jackets seemingly would have the last shot. That is, until the senior Baldwin redeemed himself with a steal to give Penn State basketball the last possession. But Baldwin was unable to win the game in the final 13 seconds, airballing a fade-away three-pointer to send it to overtime.

Horrible foul call costs Penn State basketball the win

Penn State basketball fans have become accustomed to unfortunate bounces and foul calls over the years. Add the Georgia Tech game to a long list of painful moments in Nittany Lions basketball history.

After Kanye Clary gave Penn State an 81-80 lead, the next Yellow Jacket possession, Ace Baldwin was called for the foul with 2.2 seconds remaining, giving Georgia Tech the opportunity to take an 81-80 lead and essentially ice the game.

Watching the review, it was clear to the broadcast booth that Baldwin, or any other Nittany Lions, didn’t touch Miles Kelly of Georgia Tech, who was scrambling for a loose ball after a block by Qudus Wahab. Ultimately, it looked like Kelley sort of just flung himself down and threw the ball into the air.

“I didn’t see anything,” Penn State basketball coach Mike Rhoades said after the game. “It was a blown call.”

It was one of the most shocking calls that we have seen so far in the 2023 season and took away impressive performances by Clary and Baldwin. It is hard to say that one call decided a game because there were 44 minutes and 58 seconds of action before the foul. But it is just a horrible way to see a great game end on a call that most likely wouldn’t get made 9 times out of 10.

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