After warming up last Wednesday with an 83-70 exhibition win over Queens College, the Binghamton men’s basketball team was unable to maintain its momentum on a road trip to State College, Pennsylvania, falling 108-66 to Penn State on Monday. After a tight stretch in the opening minutes, the Nittany Lions capitalized on frequent Bearcat turnovers and miscues to put the game away.

“We knew we would have a hard time guarding them because they’re just so much bigger than us,” said Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. “But then when you couple that with the way we turn the ball over, then it’s really hard to win and you get the result that you get.”

Penn State (1-0) drained a quick jumper to get on the board first, but sophomore guard Evan Ashe would quickly respond for Binghamton (0-1) with a layup to make it 2-2. The opening five minutes would be defined by a back-and-forth between the squads, with Ashe knocking back a three-pointer off a dime from sophomore guard Jayden Lemond, knotting it up at 7-7. It wouldn’t take long, however, for the Nittany Lions to take control of the game. After a three-pointer courtesy of graduate student guard Tymu Chenery cut the Nittany Lions lead to 16-12, the hosts went on an eight-point run, building a double-digit lead. The Bearcats could not keep possession of the ball as Penn State benefited to the tune of 22 points off turnovers in the half. With BU struggling to find offensive answers, the Nittany Lions grew their cushion and entered the half up 54-23.

“I just don’t feel like we were confident,” Sanders said. “I kind of think we let the names in front of their jersey affect us. I just thought instead of guys being confident in dribbling the ball, I felt like we were just basically giving them the ball. Obviously, they trapped us sometimes, but we were running right to the places where we knew they were going to trap us out.”

Looking to dig themselves out of the deficit, Binghamton saw some signs of life on offense to open the second half. BU would get to the 30-point mark on the scoreboard after a two-play sequence from Chenery consisting of a three-pointer followed by a fast-break dunk, but the deficit remained above 30 points at 64-30 as Penn State continued to find answers. The most prominent Bearcat in the half would prove to be Ashe, as the sophomore put together a run of scores on consecutive Binghamton possessions from both the perimeter and inside. Despite these efforts, Binghamton simply was never able to regain its footing in this tough matchup, and a free throw from sophomore guard Max Sims marked the game’s last point as the Bearcats fell 108-66.

“[Ashe] is athletic,” Sanders said. “He is strong so I don’t think the physicality bothered him. I thought he played confident. That’s what happens when you go out there and you are confident in your ability. Good things usually happen to you.”

Binghamton left Pennsylvania with three double-digit scorers — Ashe finished with 16 points, Chenery put up 13 and redshirt junior guard Chris Walker added 12 in the loss. The most glaring areas for Binghamton in the box score came in the turnover count as BU finished the game with 21, compared to Penn State’s five. Additionally, BU found themselves in foul trouble early and racked up 26 personal fouls over 40 minutes of play.

“I think the guys aren’t going to have to regroup much,” Sanders said. “I think they’re going to want to put this performance behind them, and I think they’re going to want to make up for this game.”

The Bearcats will look to rebound in front of their home crowd this Thursday, Nov. 7, as they take on SUNY Oneonta. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. on the Dr. Bai Lee Court at the Events Center in Vestal, New York.