Penn State muzzles Colorado State for third-place finish at Charleston Classic

Penn State suffered its first loss of the season Friday in a rock fight with Virginia Tech. Needing to return for a third and final game of the Charleston Classic on Sunday evening, a consolation, third-place game in an empty gym, the Nittany Lions would have to get by Colorado State to avoid their second.

Against a Rams outfit coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance last season, they did.

Led by Jalen Pickett’s double-double and a team-high 17 points from Seth Lundy, Penn State smothered Colorado State in a 68-58 decision. The win improved the Nittany Lions to 5-1 on the season.

Now enjoying its longest break from basketball since the season’s start, set to return to action by hosting Lafayette back at the Bryce Jordan Center on Friday (7 p.m., BTN+), Penn State will have plenty to evaluate coming off its 2-1 record out of this weekend’s set of games.

Before moving on to Lafayette, though, here is a look at how and why the Nittany Lions so thoroughly snuffed out Colorado State:

Drought season

Penn State enjoyed something of a hot start when it sent home a pair of 3-pointers and an easy Pickett bucket in its first four shots of the game. The 8-0 lead set in before 2:30 had elapsed, a reversal of the Nittany Lions’ struggles at the onset of their game against Virginia Tech on Friday. 

Though Penn State wouldn’t see its hot start continue, missing its next four 3-point attempts and 6-of-7 from the floor, it occurred concurrent to an abysmal shooting start for the Rams. Against a stout Penn State defensive effort, Colorado State missed its first nine shots from the floor, the Rams finding themselves in a 13-0 hole before Patrick Cartier found the bottom of the basket at the 12:35 mark in the first half.

It was the first and most prolonged poor shooting stretch for the Rams, but it wouldn’t be the last. Pulling the game within a couple of possessions midway through the half, the two teams traded jabs and makes as the hoop started to open up, the Rams again found themselves on a desert island while hitting just 1-of-6 to close the half. 

A mixed-bag offensive half for Penn State, knocking down open jumpers with excellent extra passes but too frequently finding the ball stuck, the result was a 33-21 advantage that the Nittany Lions would largely preserve the rest of the way. 

For the game, Colorado State made just 32 percent of its shots from the floor and only 6-of-30 from 3 (20 percent).

Arm’s length

Penn State’s 12-point halftime advantage dipped to 9 at 38-39 off a Taviontae Jackson 3-pointer midway through the second set. But, at seemingly every Colorado State swing, Penn State had a response, none more forceful than its 8-0 run coming out of the make. 

Emboldened by a Kanye Clary and-one, the Nittany Lions extended their margin to 17 when Andrew Funk hit his second and final 3-pointer of the night. 

Trading free throws, and not much more from the floor, in the final 10 minutes of gameplay, the Nittany Lions’ 19-point lead with 2:08 to play dwindled to 12 thanks to a last-second, meaningless 3-pointer for the Rams.

Going to the bench

Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry showed his first new starting lineup of the season, bringing freshman big man Kebba Njie to the floor to open the game for his first career start. 

He wouldn’t be the only one, either. 

Njie finished with 8 points and 3 rebounds in 17 minutes, turning the ball over twice. But he was joined by early appearances from Clary (5 points, 11 minutes) and Evan Mahaffey (2 points, 7 minutes) in a rotation featuring increased minutes for the Nittany Lions’ young players. 

Coming off a 16-minute outing against VT, Mahaffey was less impactful on the stat line but again flashed the athleticism and hustle that could continue to create additional opportunities for him. Clary, meanwhile, more accurately defined the word flash. Pushing the ball to the basket twice with a lightning first step off the dribble, Clary made both attempts, including an and-one. 

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With his 15 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 6 assists per game, Pickett was named to the All-Tournament Team.