WEST LAFAYETTTE, Ind. – Despite leading by as many as five and yielding a one-point deficit through the first half of play, the Penn State men’s basketball team dropped a 93-85 decision to the No. 5 Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday afternoon inside Mackey Arena.

PSU was paced by a trio of double-digit scorers in the matchup against the Boilermakers, highlighted by a career-best 25-point outing from redshirt junior guard Freddie Dilione V. The Fayetteville, North Carolina, native registered 10 makes from the field and trio of 3-pointers, adding a team-best five assists to his final line.

Freshman guard Melih Tunca logged 14 points on an efficient 6-of-9 night from the field, while redshirt sophomore guard Eli Rice poured in 11 points to round out the trio of Penn Staters in double figures. The Nittany Lions participated in their fourth matchup against a top-20 opponent in their first five Big Ten Conference opportunities on Saturday.

Purdue came away with the jump ball, but neither team managed a score over the game’s first 90 seconds. PSU broke things open at the 18:33 mark with a right-wing triple from Rice, but the Boilermakers answered back with a 7-0 scoring run. Jumpers from Dilione V and Reed helped PSU keep things within one, trailing 9-8 at the contest’s first media break.

A putback from Sasa Ciani at the 13:24 mark tied things up at 10 apiece, but a personal 7-2 scoring run from Purdue’s Braden Smith drove the home side to a 17-12 advantage. Tunca broke things up with a 3-pointer from the right corner just before the under-12, and a pair of free throws from Reed on the other side of the break made it a 17-all affair. Both teams answered each other back and forth to the tune of a 24-24 deadlock with 7:27 to play, but a layup from Ivan Juric down low saw the Nittany Lions lurch ahead.

Dilione V nailed a straightaway triple moments later to punctuate a 7-0 PSU scoring run that saw the Nittany Lions notch a five-point advantage. Purdue battled back to re-take the lead with an 13-3 scoring run that gave the Boilermakers a 37-32 edge at the 2:41 mark of the opening stanza. Rice hit a 3-pointer to cut Purdue’s lead back to two, and the squads ex-changed blows as the half continued to wind down.

A late layup from Rice saw the Nittany Lions keep things on a razor’s edge through 20 minutes of play, trailing 45-44 at the halftime break.

Purdue got the second half rolling with a quick 5-0 start, but Stewart drew a foul on a 3-point attempt and connected on all three opportunities at the stripe to keep it a one-possession game. The Boilermakers forced PSU into a timeout at the 17:09 mark after adding five unanswered, ballooning their advantage to 55-47.