Offensive execution lacking once again in Penn State basketball's loss to Michigan
Penn State guard Sam Sessoms trudged back out onto the Bryce Jordan Center floor after a deflating, 58-57 loss to Michigan on Tuesday evening.
Before he called a night, Sessoms wanted to make some of the shots he missed down the stretch. The Nittany Lion guard started the game well, with eight points in the first half. But he failed to convert on nine of his 10 field goal attempts in the second half, contributing to yet another prolonged stretch of offensive frustration for Penn State.
“I could just vividly remember a handful of opportunities where I missed a layup, and it was more me than the defender,” Sessoms said postgame. “So I wanted to get out there, you know, just end the day on a good note and move forward.”
In failing to meet the 60-point threshold for the fifth time in six games, Penn State’s players rejected the idea that their scoring doldrums stemmed from anything tactical or system-based.
Wipe away all the complexities and all the jargon and basketball is game about making shots.
And for more than 10 minutes on Tuesday night, Penn State did not make a single one.
Jalen Pickett’s 3-pointer with 3:56 to go in the first half put the Nittany Lions ahead 34-23. The Wolverines led 38-34 with 13:50 remaining on the second-half clock by the time Myles Dread’s triple snapped the skid.
“I think we beat ourselves, basically,” Pickett said. “We were struggling at one point turning the ball over a lot this season, and now we’re getting it down to the single digits where we wanna be. We’re just missing a lot of shots.”
But the reality for the Nittany Lions it that this isn’t a one-game issue.
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In fact, their 40 percent success rate on field goal attempts Tuesday was their second-best in a recent stretch of five losses in six games.
| Opponent | Penn State FG% | Result |
| Ohio State | 39.6 | 61-56 L |
| Iowa | 33.3“ | 68-51 L |
| Indiana | 33.3` | 74-57 L |
| Iowa | 44.6 | 90-86 W (2OT) |
| Wisconsin | 31.6 | 51-49 L |
| Michigan | 40 | 58-57 L |
It was also the second consecutive game that saw Penn State’s offense go completely awry for a long stretch.
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In last Saturday’s narrow defeat to Wisconsin, Penn State scored three points in the opening 12 minutes of the game.
The Nittany Lions’ defensive tenacity kept them in both of those games, making the extended periods of attacking ineptitude all the more agonizing.
Still, the prevailing thought from Tuesday’s defeat was that Penn State’s system did what it was designed to do. The Nittany Lions just didn’t execute.
“We moved the ball great and we got whatever we wanted,” Pickett said. “At the end of the day we really just gotta stay focused, stay locked in and make shots.”
Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry pointed out that the Wolverines caused the Lions some problems by switching their defenses, sometimes even on the same possession.
Still, his sentiment was similar to Pickett’s.
“I felt like we got good shots,” Shrewsberry said. “We were attacking the rim. Like, we’re getting all the way to the rim and getting shots right there. We just gotta make them.”
