STATE COLLEGE — Despite holding the No. 2 Michigan Wolverines without a field goal over the final 3:09 and closing the game out on a 7-1 scoring run, the Penn State men’s basketball team dropped a heartbreaking 74-72 contest to the undefeated Wolverines on Tuesday night inside the Bryce Jordan Center.

Penn State trimmed a 15-point second-half deficit down to one with 1:04 to play and had a chance at a game-tying or game-winning shot on the final possession. The Nittany Lion defense held Michigan to 74 points, the undefeated Wolverines’ second-lowest scoring game of the season.

The Nittany Lion defense put on a dominant display as the game wound down, with PSU keeping Michigan off the board for over three minutes. A crucial 3-pointer from Tunca with 1:53 to play cut the Wolverine lead to three points, and a pair of makes at the charity stripe from Rice got PSU within one, but the Nittany Lions came up just short on the final play of the game to concede the narrow defeat against one of the nation’s top-ranked teams.

PSU managed to outrebound Michigan by a 43-37 margin, marking just the second time this season a Wolverine opponent managed to haul in more boards.

Freshman forward Ivan Juric led the way for PSU, dropping a career-high 20 points on six made field goals and a pair of makes from long distance. Redshirt junior guard Freddie Dilione V poured in 17 points with a game-high-tying four assists. Senior forward Josh Reed notched the first double-double by a Nittany Lion this season, dropping 13 points with a season-high 10 rebounds.

Penn State was notably without the services of freshman guard Kayden Mingo, who was sidelined due to injury. Mingo is PSU’s statistical leader in scoring, rebounding, assists and minutes played per game.