Though he tried, Jermaine Marshall couldn't do it all himself.
Despite the freshman's 18 points off the bench for Penn State, the Nittany Lions fell 83-68 to No. 10 Purdue Wednesday night to Purdue as a result of continued shoddy perimeter defense.
Marshall's 18 points were offset by Purdue's Ryne Smith, who led all scorers with 20 points on 5-5 shooting from 3-point territory. JaJuan Johnson contributed a big double double for the Boilermakers with 15 points and 15 rebounds and Lewis Jackson contributed 17 points of his own to lift Purdue to a big win in Happy Valley.
The Boilermakers rode a 6-13 performance from the arc and 46-31 domination on the glass to their ninth straight victory and third straight to open Big Ten play. On the flip side, the loss by Penn State drops the Lions to 8-6 overall on the season and 1-2 in the conference. Their postseason hopes remain increasingly in doubt.
The night wasn't completely lost for Penn State, though. Talor Battle matched Marshall's 18 points and Jeff Brooks finished with a double-double himself with with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Lions also got a nice contribution from center Andrew Jones for the first time in a while as the senior finished with six points thanks to three early field goals, but it wasn't enough.
Penn State hung tough with Purdue in the first stanza, trailing by only four points at halftime. The Boilermakers blew things open in the second half, however, dominating the Lions on the offensive glass to the tune of 13-6, grabbing a bunch of second chance points and rarely taking their foot off the accelerator. Purdue led by as many as 17 at points in the second half and held on for the win with ease.
Things don't get any easier for the Lions as they now prepare to host No. 19 Purdue at the Jordan Center on Saturday afternoon. The Lions dropped both contests with the Spartans last season and haven't beaten them since 2008 at the Breslin Center