Penn State can't match Michigan State explosiveness, falls 80-64
For 15 minutes, Penn State hung in at No. 19 Michigan State.
The Nittany Lions traded blows in a highly competitive first half at the Breslin Center. Spurred on by Jalen Pickett, John Harrar, and Seth Lundy, Sam Sessoms’ first bucket kept it to two points with six minutes to play.
Then the wheels fell off.
Unable to resist a high-flying Michigan State offensive attack that pushed at every turn, the Nittany Lions quickly found themselves at a double-digit deficit at the half. In succession, the Spartans logged six layups and a dunk to pull away and not look back.
“Transition defense starts when you shoot the ball on offense,” Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “You should have two guys back for us, sometimes three. And they should be back and they should be pointing out where guys are and communicating to the rest of their guys.
“We were back, but we weren’t set the way we needed to be set. We weren’t communicating in the backline the way we needed to communicate. And we weren’t building walls.”
Twenty minutes later, the Nittany Lions felt the full effect of that deficiency.
Dropping an 80-64 decision Saturday afternoon in East Lansing, Penn State found itself dominated in many facets.
Most notably, the Spartans managed 31 points on fast breaks, all with Penn State coughing up a season-low seven turnovers for the game. Similarly dominant, the Spartans also elicited a 29-17 edge in points scored off the bench and a 40-28 advantage in rebounding.
Unable to prevent Michigan State’s barrage of easy buckets, Penn State’s best efforts offensively went unrewarded. Particularly deficient from deep, finishing hitting just 5-of-20 without a make in the first half, the Nittany Lions fell behind by as many as 21 on the back of another 9-0 Michigan State run late.
“We got some good shots, but if you look at who they are historically this season… they’re great at closing out the three-point shooters. So we’re going to have to take some contested shots and we did and unfortunately, we didn’t make them,” Shrewsberry said. “I think we can continue to attack more, but that’s who they are. They are so big on the wings. You’re shooting over a high hand at every contest.”
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Crediting the hosts with producing energy and effectiveness, Shrewsberry added that the Nittany Lions couldn’t initially match it.
Instead, looking to turn the program’s attention to academics ahead of next week’s finals, before returning to the road to face VMI next Saturday, Shrewsberry vowed to bring improvement to Penn State’s transition defense moving forward.
“The way they pushed the ball in transition, those were things that we talked about. Those were things that we emphasized,” Shrewsberry said. “You can’t take the first few minutes of the game and get adjusted to that. And that’s something that you can’t simulate in practice. You got to see it, you got to do it, you got to know it.
“I felt like they got off to a great start because of how fast they played. And then that allows them to start feeling good about themselves. If you’re feeling good about yourself, your shots are falling, getting to the free-throw line, different things happen for you. And I thought we allowed them to get too comfortable too early by giving them too many fast-break points to start the game.”
