“It was very frustrating,’’ said guard Matt Humphrey, who led the Eagles with 15 points. “It was a collective group as a team not making plays. We got our heads down.’’
The tough part came in the final minutes as the teams, who exchanged the lead nine times with four ties, looked for an edge. That came with 6:48 left when Penn State guard Tim Frazier, the only returning starter for the Nittany Lions, hit a 3-pointer that broke a 48-48 tie.
BC (2-5) never led again, and at one point went more than nine minutes without a basket.
Not that Penn State (6-2), led by former Boston University coach Pat Chambers (one of Donahue’s close friends), could fill the role of a veteran unit. Only one starter returned from a team that made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2001. Only four players on the roster appeared in games last season, with 80 percent of the scoring and 68 percent of the rebounding gone from last season’s 19-15 team.
“It was a hard-fought game, with two teams trying to find their identity,’’ said Donahue. “Give Penn State credit. They got the key loose balls. The margin for error for us is not real large because our offense is not that efficient.’’
The Eagles, who already have suffered one-sided defeats to state rivals Holy Cross and UMass, raced to a 9-2 lead.
But Penn State had started slowly before, most notably in a 65-47 loss to Saint Joseph’s last Saturday in which it fell behind, 22-0, and shot a mind-boggling 4 for 38 in the first 20 minutes.
Last night, the Nittany Lions trailed only 29-26 at the half, mainly because of Jermaine Marshall, who came off the bench to score 15 of his 22 points.
For BC, the first 20 minutes was another case of Donahue mixing and matching in search of the right combinations.
Then, the second half was a combination of sloppiness, ineptness, and signs that things will get better for both teams as experience is gained. Neither team was good enough to pull away, and the game came down to the closing seconds.
