STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — A former Terp and a former local high school star combined to take down Maryland men’s basketball on Sunday night.
Qudus Wahab scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds while St. Frances graduate Ace Baldwin Jr. had 17 points and 11 assists to help Penn State beat the Terps, 85-69, in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Wahab — who spent two seasons at Georgetown, played the 2021-22 season at Maryland and went back to Georgetown before transferring to Penn State in the offseason — shot 7-for-10 from the field. RayQuawndis Mitchell scored 14, Puff Johnson 13 and Nick Kern 10 for Penn State (15-16, 9-11 Big Ten).
Jahmir Young led Maryland (15-16, 7-13), which fell below .500 for the first time since starting the season 1-3, with 16 points and Jamie Kaiser Jr. scored 13. DeShawn Harris-Smith and Noah Batchelor added nine points apiece.
With the loss, the Terps will be the No. 12 seed and play 13th-seeded Rutgers in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. A loss would cement Maryland’s second losing season in three years after the Terps finished with a winning record every season from 1993-94 until the 2021-22 campaign.
Eleventh-seeded Penn State will take on No. 14 seed Michigan after Maryland-Rutgers on Wednesday.
The Nittany Lions scored 10 of the final 13 first-half points to take a 36-32 lead and then scored the first 10 points in a 15-2 run that gave them a 62-47 lead when Johnson converted a three-point play to cap the spurt with 10:53 to play.
Penn State, which made just 12 of 32 (37.5%) from the field in the first half, shot 60% (18 of 30) in the second half and led by double figures for the final 13 minutes. The Nittany Lions outrebounded the Terps, 47-26.
Big Ten Tournament first round
Maryland vs. Rutgers
At Target Center, Minneapolis
Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.
Stream: Peacock
Maryland’s Jordan Geronimo (22) hands off the ball during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game with Penn State Sunday, March 10, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)
Penn State’s D’ Marco Dunn (2) shoots over Maryland’s Caelum Swanton-Rodger (35) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, March 10, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)
Penn State’s Ace Baldwin Jr., right, dishes off a pass on Maryland’s Donta Scott (24) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, March 10, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)
Penn State’s Qudus Wahab, right, shoots over Maryland’s Caelum Swanton-Rodger (35) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, March 10, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)
Penn State’s D’ Marco Dunn (2) dribbles past Maryland’s DeShawn Harris-Smith (5) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, March 10, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)
Penn State’s Ace Baldwin Jr. (1) shoos over Maryland’s Jamie Kaiser Jr. (12) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, March 10, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)
Penn State’s D’ Marco Dunn (2) drives against Maryland’s Caelum Swanton-Rodger (35) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, March 10, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)
Penn State’s D’ Marco Dunn (2) shoots over Maryland’s Noah Batchelor (11) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, March 10, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)
Maryland’s Mady Traore (14) Penn State’s Nick Kern Jr. (3) and Maryland’s Jamie Kaiser Jr. (12) go up for a rebound during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, March 10, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)
Penn State’s Zach Hicks, left, shoots from the baseline against Maryland’s Donta Scott, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, March 10, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)
Maryland’s DeShawn Harris-Smith (5) drives the baseline against Penn State’s Bragi Gudmundsson, right, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, March 10, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)
Penn State’s Zach Hicks (24) reaches to knock the ball away from Maryland’s DeShawn Harris-Smith, right, during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, March 10, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)
Maryland’s Jamie Kaiser Jr. , center, drives between Penn State defenders Ace Baldwin Jr. (1) and Nick Kern Jr., right, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, March 10, 2024, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)
