Senior guard Dakota Mathias added 18 points as the Boilermakers (24-5, 13-3 Big Ten) moved into a tie for second place with Ohio State. Senior center Isaac Haas scored 12 points as Purdue defeated the Nittany Lions for the sixth consecutive time.

Sophomore guard Tony Carr scored 19 points for Penn State, which had a four-game winning streak halted. Senior guard Shep Garner added 17 points and sophomore forward Lamar Stevens had 13 as the Nittany Lions (19-10, 9-7) lost for the 11th straight time at Mackey Arena.

Penn State was in position to force overtime when sophomore forward Mike Watkins was fouled on a put-back attempt with 4.3 seconds to play. However, Watkins missed the first free throw and made the second, leaving the Nittany Lions trailing 74-73.

Carsen Edwards made two free throws with 2.8 seconds remaining to give the Boilermakers a three-point advantage. Carr missed a running 30-foot, 3-point try as time expired.

Purdue played without senior forward Vincent Edwards (14.9 points, team-leading 7.8 rebounds), who sustained a sprained ankle during practice on Saturday.

Garner drained his fifth 3-pointer of the contest to bring Penn State within 69-68 with 2:12 remaining. The Nittany Lions again trailed by one before Mathias buried a 3-pointer to give Purdue a 74-70 edge with 1:13 to play.

Stevens made two free throws to pull Penn State within two points with 54.8 seconds left.

Penn State led by as many as nine points in the first half, the first time when Carr drained a jumper to end an 11-1 surge with 5:04 left in the half.

The Nittany Lions were up 36-27 after a 3-pointer by Stevens with 1:16 left in the half before Purdue rattled off the next 12 points -- the final five of the first half and first seven of the second -- to take a three-point advantage.

A three-point play by Carsen Edwards pushed the Boilermakers' lead to 44-38 with 16:02 remaining. Penn State cut its deficit to two before Purdue ran off nine straight points with Mathias converting back-to-back layups to make it 53-42 with 12:34 remaining.

The Nittany Lions answered with a 14-3 spurt with Garner draining back-to-back 3-pointers to knot the score at 56 with 7:01 to play.

--Field Level Media