Penn State battles, drops 61-59 decision in Charleston Classic semis
Trailing Virginia Tech by a bucket with 4.7 seconds left to play, Penn State guard Jalen Pickett surveyed his options from the scorers’ table. Inbounding to a cutting Myles Dread or Andrew Funk, or a screening Seth Lundy, nothing broke loose.
With the five-second count dwindling, Pickett settled for a hard-charging Camren Wynter in the backcourt. Met at the elbow by a closing pair of Hokie defenders, guards Sean Pedulla and Hunter Cattoor, Wynter’s attempt at a game-tying layup was instead sent out of bounds.
Returning possession to Virginia Tech, it also sent Penn State to a 61-59 loss in the semifinal of the Charleston Classic. The Nittany Lions’ first defeat of the season, they’ll play the loser of Colorado State and Charleston for third place on Sunday at 6 p.m. (ESPNU).
Before moving on, here are the immediate takeaways that led to Penn State’s loss:
Cold shooting spells
Penn State finished, as it has in each of its five games this season, with double-digit makes from beyond the arc. But, at 11-of-30, the 36.7 percent clip was the Nittany Lions’ lowest of the season
The sentiment was true of both halves, but was particularly damaging early in the game, falling behind by double digits while missing eight-straight, and again in the second half, connecting on just one of their first 10 shots.
Though Virginia Tech was physically imposing and held a 23-14 rebounding advantage in the first half, including a 24-12 edge in points in the paint, the imbalance in the 3-point shooting was enough to send the Nittany Lions to the locker room trailing only 37-29.
Still, from the onset, the tone was set for Penn State to have to consistently fight to catch up. First managing to whittle a 16-point Virginia Tech lead down to 8, the two teams traded misses to open the second half. Combining for just five makes from the floor in the first 10 minutes of the second half, Penn State finally broke through with a Jalen Pickett 3-pointer at the 8:45 mark in a 47-43 game.
Though ratcheting up its percentages from that point forward, it came in concert with the same for Virginia Tech.
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Too many Penn State turnovers
A concern for head coach Micah Shrewsberry earlier this season, begrudging 11 against Winthrop and another against Butler, the turnovers proved debilitating against Virginia Tech. Losing 14 in all, nine coming from VT steals, the Nittany Lions found themselves on the wrong end of repeated lost possessions without shots.
For the game, that worked out to 56 Penn State attempts against 58 for Virginia Tech, but with a 9-4 free throw attempt deviation, despite the rebounding finishing at an even 34-34, the Nittany Lions couldn’t overcome their shooting deficiencies on the afternoon.
Second-half stops run out
Turning to a small ball lineup in the second half, with Caleb Dorsey and Kebba Njie both sitting for its entirety, Penn State clawed back a 2-point differential on four separate occasions in the final 6:26.
Attacking the Nittany Lions’ lack of big men in the game, though, Virginia Tech answered every instance with paint points against an unprotected rim.
Momentarily derailed by an Evan Mahaffey moving screen call, VT extended its lead to 59-53 with 1:55 to play, though Myles Dread and Andrew Funk 3-pointers left Penn State with the final deciding look with the clock dwindling.
Hitting on its final four shots, Penn State couldn’t get over the hump as the Hokies hit 4-of-5 from the floor to close the game.
