Three takeaways from Penn State basketball's loss to Purdue

Penn State Nittany Lions basketball’s Big Ten Tournament run came to an end against third-seeded Purdue on Friday night in Indianapolis, 69-61.

Let’s dive into three takeaways from the game.

1. Efficiency makes the difference

This was a game about shot-making.

It may sound like an oversimplification, but the statistics bear it out.

Despite losing backup big man Greg Lee to an ankle injury early in the game, the Nittany Lions grabbed one more offensive rebound than Purdue, who controls the glass better than almost any team in the nation.

Additionally, Penn State ended up in the green when it comes to turnovers — a rarity for a Nittany Lions team that has struggled in that department this season.

Attempting seven more field goals than Purdue, the Nittany Lions put themselves in an excellent position.

But Purdue simply made its shots. Penn State did not.

The Boilermakers shot 50 percent from the field and 5-14 from 3-point range, while the Nittany Lions shot only 40.7 percent. Penn State struggled from beyond the arc, too, hitting eight of its 26 attempts.

Purdue also got to the free-throw line at a higher rate, with 17 attempts to Penn State’s seven.

There was no great difference in the quality of the looks generated by each team. It was a matter of execution. Purdue made the most of its chances, while the Nittany Lions left points on the table.

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2. Hot start and end-of-game charge no coincidence

Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry said he made a “rookie mistake” midway through the first half that impacted his team’s offensive output.

The Nittany Lions began the game red-hot, making eight of their first 14 field-goal attempts.

As PSU settled in, though, Shrewsberry moved the Nittany Lions into their bread-and-butter ball-screen action.

It’s a move he harbored some regrets for postgame.

“That’s something that I talked about at halftime,” he said. “Probably a rookie mistake by me because we were moving the basketball, we were in a good flow, and then like I forced us to be too stagnant by trying to run more ball screen stuff and get switches in the back. We did it, we had discussed it, but then the ball stuck.”

As the Nittany Lions cut a 12-point Purdue lead to one in the final eight minutes of the game, they went back to the more free-flowing offense they’d run to start the night.

Their late-game charge fell just short, though. Penn State did not score in the final 2:39 after cutting Purdue’s lead to 62-61.

“We see at the end when we got down, we went back to playing that way,” Shrewsberry said. “Now the ball’s moving, we were playing at a faster pace, we were getting to the rim a little better.

“You know, I’ve got to be better, I’ve got to help those guys be better, continue to play the right way and we will. It’s like learning, learning experiences as you go. That’s why I’m happy that those guys put their trust in me and helped me go through my rookie mistakes a little bit.”

3. Penn State’s shooters struggle

It’s hard not to leave this contest wondering what could have been if the Nittany Lions had been a little more effective from 3-point range.

That’s where Purdue is most vulnerable. The Boilermakers came into this game giving up 36 percent of its points from beyond the arc.

Penn State needed to get hot, and it just couldn’t.

Seth Lundy went 0-7 from range. Dallion Johnson converted on only one of his six attempts. Jaheam Cornwall, Myles Dread and Jalen Pickett each went 2-3 from 3-point range, but the Nittany Lions just didn’t get the volume they needed from out there to pull off the upset against a more athletic opponent.