In one of the biggest upsets of the college basketball season, Penn State beat Michigan on Feb. 27 for their first Big Ten win in over a year, 84-78. Heading into the game, Penn State was winless in conference play while the Wolverines were ranked fourth in the nation.
Penn State had lost 18 straight Big Ten games, and 14 so far this season, before the win.
Jermaine Marshall led the Nittany Lions with 25 points, including a layup with one minute remaining to help Penn State pull off the six point victory. Not only did they upset the high ranked Michigan squad, but they did it with an impressive 15 point come-from-behind effort.
Michigan was also the first Top 5 team that Penn State has beaten since 2001, when they beat North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament. While college basketball sees losses to top teams all the time, this is not the time that the Wolverines needed to lose.
There is only a few games left before tournaments begin, and the loss keeps Michigan from moving into a second place tie with Michigan State and Wisconsin. While the Wolverines rank higher than either of those teams in the polls, the Big Ten tournament brackets only cares about wins and losses. All five of Michigan's losses came against Big Ten teams, including the two sitting above them in the standings.
However, this night belonged to Penn State.
"I was looking around. I wanted to see our team," head coach Patrick Chambers said after the game. "I wanted to embrace it and be in that moment because those moments don't come very often."
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