Penn State basketball: Three takeaways from PSU's overtime loss to LSU

First-year Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry made it clear that the moral victory narrative does not interest him following a 68-63 overtime defeat to LSU Friday night.

However, it’s still worth pointing out that his Nittany Lions turned in arguably their best performance on the young season, falling to the Tigers in the semifinals of the Emerald Coast Classic.

The Nittany Lions sent the game to overtime on a last-second layup by Seth Lundy, but fell behind from the off in the extra frame and couldn’t make up the ground.

“We always believe that we can win,” Shrewsberry said. “We come with a game plan that we’re gonna win, we come with a defensive mindset that we’re gonna win.

“And we’re not satisfied with this.”

1. Penn State’s defense sets the standard

Penn State entered this game with one primary objective: Keep LSU out of the transition offense it thrives in.

The Nittany Lions succeeded, and it showed on the stat sheet. The Tigers entered this game averaging 85.4 points per contest and finished with 68 Friday, and 10 of those came in overtime.

Penn State limited LSU to 35 percent from the floor. The Tigers scored only 11 fast-break points all night.

“We need to play that way every single time to give us a chance,” Shrewsberry said. “If you defend like that, you give yourself a chance.

It was, by far, Penn State’s best defensive performance of the season, made even more impressive by the fact that PSU limited LSU star Darius Days to eight points on 4-14 from the field. He had entered the night averaging over 19 points per contest.

To Shrewsberry, this felt like a Big Ten game. And this is the way the Nittany Lions will need to play if they hope to compete once conference play ramps up.

“This is going to be the Big Ten,” he said. “These are going to be the wars in the Big Ten. So this is great preparation for us.

“We turned this into a Big Ten game. That’s what we did with our defense.”

2. Extra LSU possessions doom Penn State

As well as Penn State defended in this game, it ultimately didn’t matter.

The Tigers repeatedly earned themselves extra opportunities thanks to their effort on the offensive glass.

LSU grabbed 17 offensive rebounds in this game, and converted them into 15 crucial second-chance points.

“We just have to be better on the glass,” Shrewsberry said. “They’re a team that attacks the offensive glass so we just need to be better in that way.”

Penn State compounded the problem by turning the ball over 21 times while only generating five takeaways of its own.

Some of those giveaways can be attributed to LSU’s pressure defense, which again flummoxed the Nittany Lions. Penn State has faced pressure in every game since UMass used it to great effect in the second game of the year.

It’s an issue the Nittany Lions still have not completely solved.

“It makes it hard to get organized…I need to help us get organized, get us into some different things,” Shrewsberry said. “Those are all things that we try to work on in practice that we need to continue to get better at.”

3. Pickett and Sessoms carry the load on offense

Nineteen of Penn State’s 29 points in the second half came from the guard duo of Jalen Pickett and Sam Sessoms.

Sessoms produced a mini seven-point run late in the game on his own that helped send the game to overtime, including a three-pointer and a pair of creative finishes at the rim.

“Games like this are going to help them play together and play off of each other,” Shrewsberry said. “I thought they were both good at different points and I thought they both tried to follow the game plan.”

Sessoms finished with 11 points in the second half, dishing out a pair of assists as well.

Pickett scored 14 points total to lead the Nittany Lions, shooting 5-9 from the field and 4-8 from range. In what was probably his best game in a Nittany Lion uniform so far, Pickett also produced three assists and collected eight boards.

“He’s getting more and more confident,” Shrewsberry said. “I think he and Sam are starting to play well with each other. It’s gonna take time, right?”