3 Things we’ve learned about Penn State Basketball so far this season
By Evan Smith
No. 2: Turnovers an issue for Penn State Basketball
There is nothing wrong with playing slow, but that does mean every possession becomes much more valuable.
What you can’t do with less possessions is turn the ball over!
In likely their easiest portion of the schedule, Penn State Basketball is currently averaging 13 turnovers per game with Lundy, Sessoms, Pickett and Harrar each average 2+ turnovers a game.
Last year, the Nittany Lions only had 11.4 turnovers per game last year and 11.2 turnovers per game two years ago.
One or two turnovers per game doesn’t seem like that big a difference but given the significantly less possessions, that two turnover difference becomes far more impactful. And the team assist to turnover ratio is a weak 1.02, meaning that we are turning the ball over more and not making up for it with more assists.
Penn State lost to LSU in overtime in the Emerald Coast Classic and Miami at home in the B1G-ACC Challenge by five points. The Nittany Lions combined for 30 turnovers in those two games.
By simply protecting the ball just a bit more, Penn State easily could have found a way to win those two games. But that’s the difference between 6-1 and the current record, 4-3.