With 7.6 seconds remaining Minnesota's Rick Rickert calmly stepped to the free throw line and sank a pair of foul shots.

The Nittany Lions had one final chance, but as Brandon Watkins drove down the lane and found an open B.J. Vossekuil, the ball deflected off his and fell to the ground.

The Penn State men's basketball team scored only two points in the final 5:13 seconds in dropping a heart-breaking game to Minnesota, 76-75, last night at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Down the stretch the Lions, possession after possession, ran the shot clock down within five seconds before firing up an errant shot.

"The last two or three minutes we wanted to run a set play with 18 seconds," said Penn State men's basketball coach Jerry Dunn. "We wanted to shorten the game and limit the number of defensive plays."

The refuse-to-win style of offense was unable to figure out the Golden Gopher zone in the end. On three occasions Penn State settled for Jan Jagla three-pointers all off the mark. Watkins attempted to bail out the Lions' stagnant offense by creating shots, and he did, scoring a game-high 20 points. Watkins just couldn't convert in the closing moments.

"I should've pulled up," Watkins said. "I'm the point guard and not selfish, so I passed to my open teammate."

Rickert, who has struggled from the line this season, shooting 70 percent from the line, sank four free throws in the final minute.

"I knew they were in," Rickert said of the final two free throws.

Minnesota men's basketball coach Dan Monson said that Rickert was the guy he wanted on the line in the closing moments.

"Rick is as good as anybody in that spot," he said. "That's why he came to Minnesota. He knows how to win."

The Lions found themselves in another double-digit first half deficit, as they trailed by 12 at the half. Foul trouble contributed and complicated the problem. Penn State came out of the gates fast to start the second half, going on a 20-8 run to tie the game at 53.

Penn State's largest lead of the game came when Watkins buried a pull-up jumper in the lane, 71-65, with 5:31 remaining.

Freshman walk-on Aaron Johnson turned in another strong performance, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He knows the game should have never come down to the free throws.

"This was our game," Johnson said. "We blew it. We didn't make a stop. We didn't finish."