Three takeaways from Penn State basketball's loss to Iowa
Penn State Nittany Lions basketball stayed close for much of the game, but fell away late in a 68-51 loss to Iowa on the road.
The Nittany Lions couldn’t get anything going offensively, scoring a season-low 51 points, looking out-of-sync for most of the contest.
With the loss, Penn State falls to 8-8 on the season and 3-5 in the Big Ten.
1. Lions can’t overcome out-of-rhythm offense
Penn State’s offense has never quite been a thing of beauty this season.
Part of that is by design. The idea for Micah Shrewsberry and company is to keep things slow. They use the shot clock and defend well, looking to stay close against teams that probably have a little bit more talent than they do.
The Nittany Lions won’t stay close in many games playing offense the way they did against the Hawkeyes, though — never mind win them.
Penn State shot 33 percent from the field on Saturday afternoon. Only Jalen Pickett reached double figures, scoring 14 points.
A full-court press deployed by the Hawkeyes harried the Nittany Lions all game, forcing them to engage their already slow-moving offense with an abbreviated shot clock to work with.
It’s a problem the Nittany Lions have dealt with for most of the season, reacting poorly to extended defenses.
Notably, the Nittany Lions got little production from their corps of big men. Starters John Harrar and Greg Lee combined for six points on 1-9 from the field. Jevonnie Scott and Jalanni White added three points off the bench.
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It totality, the Nittany Lions weren’t efficient enough. And after shooting 39 percent and scoring just 56 points in a road loss to Ohio State in their previous game, they have to guard against this becoming a trend.
2. Giveaways galore
When your offense isn’t efficient, you need a high quantity of shots to make up for it.
The Nittany Lions didn’t get that, either.
Penn State gave the ball away in just about every possible manner. The Nittany Lions committed numerous shot clock violations. They made poor passes. They dribbled it off their own appendages, on occasion.
It was, to put it simply, an ugly effort. Penn State gave it away 17 times and made 17 field goals.
The Nittany Lions stayed close in the first half thanks to eight offensive rebounds, but those dried up in the second half, as the Hawkeyes asserted themselves on the glass and established a firm grip on the game.
3. Seth Lundy returns for the Nittany Lions
Leading scorer Seth Lundy missed last weekend’s game against Ohio State for undisclosed reasons. He did not travel with the team.
He was available for Saturday’s contest, though, getting the start and playing 29 minutes.
Lundy scored eight points for the Nittany Lions in his return to action, shooting 3-11 from the field and 2-7 from 3-point range.
