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Penn State Basketball: Nittany Lions fall to Wolfpack 85-78

By Dylan Burd

BLOOMINGTON, IN - FEBRUARY 01: Patrick Chambers the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions gives instructions to his team during the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Assembly Hall on February 1, 2017 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, IN - FEBRUARY 01: Patrick Chambers the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions gives instructions to his team during the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Assembly Hall on February 1, 2017 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Penn State can’t pull out a road victory in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. 

In Penn State’s first true road game of this young season, the Nittany Lions fell short,  losing by 7 to the North Carolina State Wolfpack at PNC Arena. With Penn State’s second out of conference loss, they have lost two of their last three after starting the season 5-0. It was an ugly one for the Nittany Lions, so here’s a breakdown of what happened:

What Went Right:

In watching this game, and going through the numbers, there’s very little that went well for Penn State tonight. By the first media timeout,  the Nittany Lions were up 11-0. The defensive effort was there, and beyond suffocating. From there, everything went downhill.

The Nittany Lions also won the rebounding battle tonight 43-35, something that I think could be a struggle come conference play. Mike Watkins had 14 of the 43 boards.

If there is anything else coming out of this game that’s positive for Penn State, it’s the fact that Tony Carr continued his outstanding season by putting up 29 points on 12-25 from the field.

What Went Wrong (Hint: A lot):

Let’s get started.

The main issue tonight was the three-point shooting of the Wolfpack. NC State came into tonight’s game shooting just over 27 percent from downtown. That number was good for 329th in the country out of 351 division one programs.

It seemed as if the game plan for the Nittany Lions was to let NC State shoot that open three-point shot. The Wolfpack ended up shooting 10-16 from three-point range tonight, after Penn State seemed to lay off the shot every single time.

Another problem for Penn State tonight was the lack of movement on offense. The ball ended up in Tony Carr’s hands in an isolation situation on nearly every drive. The Nittany Lions only scored off 12 assists tonight. The ball wasn’t moving.

Carr is great, but he can’t do it all himself. He took 25 shots tonight, more than double anyone else on the team. Basketball is a team sport and that can’t happen.

The Nittany Lions also shot 65.2% from the free throw line, making just 15 of their 23 free throws. In a close game, this makes a difference.

However, that wasn’t the only bad team stat for Penn State. The Nittany Lions shot only 38.5 percent from downtown and committed 18 turnovers. On top of that, they committed 29 personal fouls compared to NC State’s 21, resulting in the Wolfpack shooting 14 more free throws than the Nittany Lions.

Overview: 

With only the 280th best strength of non-conference schedule in division one, this was a huge opportunity for Penn State to make a statement. Come March, when the committee searches for good wins, they aren’t going to find any out of conference. This could have been one of those games.

The Nittany Lions will travel to Iowa City on Saturday to face the Iowa Hawkeyes and kick off conference play. With the Wisconsin Badgers following the game against the Hawkeyes, it is a necessity that the Nittany Lions at least split their next two games.

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