Penn State Basketball falls to Purdue 80-72 in first game back
By Evan Smith
This is a decent Penn State Basketball team in one of the toughest conferences in the sport’s history.
Sadly, that’s just not going to win many games.
You’re going to read the words “good effort falls short” over and over this year. So, what must change? This team needs that “IT” factor. That player who demands the ball and can go get a bucket to stop a run.
Myreon Jones can shoot from anywhere, but doesn’t seem to have that dagger mentality.
Sam Sessoms (4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists) can get his shot but his height in the paint will always be a challenge.
The Seth Lundy who started the year has all but disappeared (7 points on 2-11 shooting).
Izaiah Brockington (12 points but on 19 shots) may be the closest the Nittany Lions have to this type of player, but too many of his wild drives to the basket end with him on the floor and the opponent running the other way.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Massive foul trouble put the Lions into an early hole. Two missed front ends of a one-and-one’s (Harrar, Wheeler) prevented the Lions from building on their late first half lead.
At the end of the day, last year’s “offensive coordinator” and now Head Coach Jim Ferry is just not showing enough creativity on that side of the floor. Right now, if Penn State can’t make 12 three point shots a game, there just aren’t enough points out there.