UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- By the end of the night all Penn State basketball could do was watch as their hopes of making the program's first NCAA Tournament trip since 2011 took a major hit.
With a rowdy home crowd of 13,586 -- the largest weekday crowd in the Bryce Jordan Center since March of 2011 -- and the emotions of senior night on full display as Shep Garner was honored one last time, Penn State had few answers as No. 17 Michigan (23-7, 11-6 Big Ten) did their part to give Pat Chambers' team fits and delivered a major roadblock ahead of the Lions' March hopes.
Whether it was big man Mike Watkins who limped off the floor early in the first half, unable to put any weight on his right leg, or a bench that was outscored 34-6, Penn State (19-11, 9-8 Big Ten) was dealt their second loss since Sunday. The three-point decision they dropped on the road to then No. 6 Purdue coupled with this 72-63 defeat put the Lions' life on the Tournament bubble on life support ahead of this Sunday's regular season finale at Nebraska.
"When you give up 10 threes to Michigan it's going to be a tough outing for sure," Chambers said. Michigan's Moritz Wagner accounted for four of the treys. "There's going to be some positives taken from this and we'll grow from this and we'll get better from it. ... For all of you and all the fans and the families it's all about NCAA Tournament and all those distractions and all the noise. For me with this group it's about one percent better and continue to push, continue to strive. ... We've got a lot of basketball left, a lot of basketball left and we've done some great things this season so I don't want them to lose their focus."
Watkins will have tests on his right leg on Thursday and while he briefly returned to the floor and was noticeably hobbled as he limped up and down the court and grabbed at his right knee, Chambers removed him from the game ahead of the second half. Watkins played five minutes in all. The player who helps clean up around the basket held a towel over his eyes as he slumped into his seat realizing he too could do nothing to help get this team over the hump.
Chambers said it was his decision to keep Watkins in the training room for the second half because he didn't want the rest of the team to see a key cog to the starting lineup upset and rather he wanted their focus to be on the 13-point deficit that the Lions found themselves in after Watkins went down.
"Mike is a big part of our team," Garner said. "If any one of us goes down it's going to be different, but just like the rest of us it's going to be the next man up."
Without Watkins, John Beilein's team was able to pressure Carr with double teams and the Wolverines didn't have to worry much about reserves Julian Moore and Satchel Pierce who combined for eight points. The usual lobs to Watkins were taken off the table, making this team a less than ideal down low presence.
Lamar Stevens, who posted 19 points after converting 9-of-19 field goals, also continued the team's troubling trend of missed free throws. Against the Boilermakers with a chance to tie it late in the game Watkins went 1-for-2. Against Michigan Stevens went 0-for 4 and the Lions were 6-of-11 from the charity stripe.
This was the type of outing that many of the blue and white faithful were waiting to happen, standing there shaking their white pom poms but knowing that as has been the Penn State basketball story the past six-plus seasons it's always been without a happy ending come March. As droves of fans headed towards the exits with under two minutes to go, the now crowded concourse -- certainly one sign of the turnaround that occurred here this season -- featured many dejected faces.
Penn State hits the road Sunday for a showdown against an equally desperate Nebraska team and then barring some serious noise in the Big Ten Tournament, this season likely will end with an NIT bid. It's marked improvement which is what athletic director Sandy Barbour was looking for ahead of conference play, but the sting of these last two losses -- especially after so much life was pumped back into this program after the victory against Ohio State one week ago -- will in all likelihood keep this team just a piece or two or a win or two away from where they wanted to go.