Penn State men’s basketball coach Mike Rhoades, hoarse and frustrated after the Nittany Lions’ 82-81 loss to the 15th-ranked Oregon Ducks on Sunday, said he was looking for his team to commit an intentional foul and force free throws with 2 seconds left in regulation. But the foul went uncalled, and Penn State lost its second straight Big Ten game to a ranked team. Afterward, Rhoades explained the finish through a raspy voice. He said he even alerted the officials before Oregon inbounded the ball that his team essentially planned to foul.
“We’re a pressing team, we deny the ball,” Rhoades told reporters in State College after the game. “I told the referees, we’re going to be physical before they throw it in, so if they call a foul, they call a foul. I told them.”
Penn State’s Zach Hicks made a 3-pointer with 2 seconds to pull the Nittany Lions within one. Rhoades called a timeout to set up the play to defend Oregon’s inbound. On the play, Rhoades thought Puff Johnson had two hands on Oregon’s Nate Bittle, who tipped the ball to teammate Jackson Shelstad. The plan was intentional, Rhoades said. He had a play set for the situation, which relied on Oregon shooting free throws. But Penn State didn’t get a chance to run it, as Oregon ran out the 2 seconds with possession and no called foul. It was a Hail Mary, but Rhoades was upset at the uncalled foul…