Penn State Basketball: Nittany Lions fall to Aggies 98-87 in Legends Classic title game

Penn State basketball showed that it has the potential to compete with some of college basketball’s best. 

One night after beating Pitt by 31 points, the Penn State Nittany Lions took on the Texas A&M Aggies in the championship game of the Legends Classic. The 16th-ranked Aggies won handedly, as they led most of the second half. Considering this was the first highly ranked team that the Nittany Lions have played during this young season, there was a lot to take away from this game. Here’s a quick recap:

What Went Right:

Five words: Tony Carr and Lamar Stevens.

After watching this game, it’s clear that Carr and Stevens are going to carry this team moving forward. The sophomore duo combined to score 56 out of the 87 Nittany Lion points. With Carr’s 21 points in the first half, Texas A&M was only able to take a two point lead into the half. Tony Carr is wowing, and it is very possible that he could be considered a top ten point guard in the country by the season’s end.

An additional help to the Nittany Lions in this game is that they only had ten turnovers, a season best. When you are playing a team as good as the Aggies, this is crucial. A turnover number in the upper teens could have led to a blowout, and an even bigger victory for the Aggies. If the Nittany Lions can keep turnovers to a minimum, this should be a huge help to them going forward.

Penn State also had 14 steals in this game, a sign of their 19th-rated defense per Pomeroy College Basketball Total Defensive Rankings. Josh Reaves and Tony Carr each had four steals, to go along with Jamari Wheeler’s two steals off the bench. Defense leads to offense, so forcing turnovers are going to continue to be a huge part of the Nittany Lions’ game going forward.

What Went Wrong:

Penn State’s defense in the paint was an absolute anomaly tonight. Mike Watkins is usually a great defender, but was in early foul trouble and didn’t have a good game. If Watkins gets into foul trouble, then Satchel Pierce and Julian Moore are going to have to play extended minutes. Pierce and Moore have struggled to give the Nittany Lions productive minutes when Watkins goes to the bench.

In tonight’s game, the Aggies’ centers and forwards combined for 47 points. This included 21 points and 10 rebounds from top NBA draft prospect Robert Williams. Williams is only the beginning of long, athletic bigs that Penn State will face this season, and if they can’t defend in the paint, it will be hard for them to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in March.

Furthermore, Penn State only tallied 23 rebounds tonight, as opposed to the 36 that Texas A&M had. Twenty three rebounds in a 40 minute game is not where you want to be, and the rebound battle usually directly correlates with the result of the game. The rebounding must improve.

Three-point shooting was also a problem for Penn State as they shot 26.3% from beyond the arc. This came as Shep Garner didn’t hit a three point shot until there was 22 seconds left in the game. Garner is going to be an X-factor this season for the Nittany Lions and if he isn’t scoring, then there is just going to be more of a job for Carr and Stevens, and that won’t work very well.

Overall Takeaway:

While this game ended with Texas A&M winning by 11, this game was closer than it seemed. This game really showed that Penn State can compete with anyone in the country, and is fully capable in finishing the season in the top half of the Big Ten and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.