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In losing effort, Penn State defense holds down high-powered Miami

nate-mug-10.12.14by:Nate Bauer•12/02/21•

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Micah Shrewsberry
Micah Shrewsberry spoke to reporters following his Nittany Lions' 63-58 loss to Miami on Wednesday, Dec. 1. (Nate Bauer/BWI)

Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry was asked to assess the performance of his team’s defensive effort against Miami Wednesday night.

Coming up short in a 63-58 loss to the Hurricanes at the Bryce Jordan Center, Shrewsberry glanced down. Stats already committed to memory, Shrewsberry offered a bottom-line analysis of his team’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge loss.

“Sixty-three has got to be enough,” he said. “I don’t know what else I can ask of our defense.”

Wednesday night, it wasn’t. 

While Miami knocked down 9-of-25 3-pointers and hit a 43 percent clip from the floor, Shrewsberry found no fault in his Nittany Lions’ defensive effort.

An extension of a season-long emphasis, his 4-3 Penn State team has so far been tough defensively.

Beyond an 81-point letup loss at UMass, only Cornell has come close at 74 points. With the Hurricanes’ 63 just under what’s now a season average of only 64.1 points per game allowed, it is the second-lowest point total to date for Miami (5-2 overall).

“Our defense is pretty stamped,” said Penn State senior forward John Harrar. “We all know what we want. At the end, they were making tough contested twos. That’s what our defense is about. That’s what we want from our defense. We want the guys taking the shots that we want.”

In a tight game after trailing by as many as 8 in the second half, the Hurricanes’ made those shots. 

With a combination of clutch buckets and contested jumpers from Isaiah Wong to hold onto a three-possession advantage, Kameron McGusty knocked down a clutch three with 38 seconds to play. As a result, Miami held off a late Penn State push. 

“That’s a high-power team,” Shrewsberry said. “All of those guards are capable of getting 30 points.”

Rattling off the credentials of sixth-year senior transfer guard Charlie Moore (12 points), plus Wong (12 points) and McGusty (12 points), Shrewsberry instead insisted that Penn State’s offensive effort must improve.

Saddled by 14 turnovers, many of coinciding with a Miami scoring drought in the first half, the Nittany Lions understand what needs to improve moving forward. 

“They’re all capable of putting up huge numbers. And we held them down. We held them to 63 points,” Shrewsberry said. “63 has to be enough. We can’t turn the ball over 14 times. If every single night we’re sitting in here and the other team has 63, I’m feeling really good about how we’re guarding.”

Penn State will get that next opportunity when it opens Big Ten play on Sunday night at the BJC. They’ll host Ohio State (5-2) for a 7:30 p.m. tip (BTN).

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