UNIVERSITY PARK — Derik Queen had 23 points, Ja’kobi Gillespie scored 19 and No. 16 Maryland beat Penn State, 68-64, on Saturday.
The Terps inched closer to a top-four seed and a double bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
Selton Miguel added 17 points for the Terrapins (22-7, 12-6 Big Ten), who overcame a 36-30 halftime deficit to snap a seven-game losing streak in Happy Valley.
Ace Baldwin Jr. had 18 points, and D’Marco Dunn scored 14 for the Nittany Lions (15-15, 5-14), who needed to win out and get help in the standings to make the 15-team conference tournament.
Julian Reese grabbed 15 rebounds for the Terps, who entered the game as one of four Power Four teams with all five starters scoring in double figures.
The Nittany Lions did all they could to keep their postseason hopes alive but couldn’t overcome miscues in another close loss. This was their ninth loss by six points or fewer, tied with Northwestern for most in the Big Ten.
With Maryland up 66-64 and 44 seconds to play, Baldwin missed what would have been a tying jumper. Reese grabbed his 15th rebound and set up Rodney Rice for a bucket on the other end that put the game out of reach with 17 seconds left.
Maryland turned 16 Nittany Lion turnovers into 21 points.
Penn State wraps up its regular season with a visit to No. 11 Wisconsin on March 8.
