Penn State reverts to season-long identity in crushing loss to Rutgers

Even before the big lead and subsequent collapse, there were cracks showing on Sunday evening. Penn State, hosting Rutgers in a game of critical importance to both programs, was reverting to its norms.

Ultimately falling, 59-56, the setback represented one of the most crushing disappointments in the program’s recent history. And a sizable advantage dissipating, expanding to 16 by the midpoint of the first half, and settling at 17 with three minutes to play, was the harbinger of things to come. 

Evaporating as a 13-of-22 shooting start to the game finished as an 0-5 stretch to close the half, the Nittany Lions lost what they’d worked so hard to earn. A sudden and damaging loss of confidence to a team that has established itself as feel-good and fragile throughout the season, the setting was in place for what would eventually come.

“When you build leads, you have to kind of stay with what got you there. You got to hit singles. I felt like we went for the home run way too many times, way too many times, instead of just being simple. And that’s what we talked about at halftime,” Penn State head coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “We gave them that 7-0 run at the end of the half that goes from 17 to 10 and it gives them a little bit of confidence. That’s all you need. I’ve been talking about confidence for two and a half weeks. That’s all you need in college basketball is a little bit of confidence. They were fired up.”

Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry postgame

For a Rutgers program with no reason to be, losing starter Mawot Mag to a season-ending ACL injury, and dropping four of five coming into the matchup, confidence demanded a long-game approach. But for Steve Pikiell’s outfit, patience proved its presence throughout, again showing up at the start of the second half.

Led by Camren Wynter, Penn State’s leading scorer with 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, the Nittany Lions immediately took their biggest lead of the game in the opening minutes out of the break. Seth Lundy and Andrew Funk had been bottled up, neither scoring in the first half on a combined 0-7 shooting. But, Wynter’s 6-0 outburst, capped by a wide-open make for Funk, his first hit of the game, gave Penn State a 40-21 advantage with 18:24 to play.

Undeterred, led by Cam Spencer and Derek Simpson off the bench, Rutgers quickly seesawed its way back. Quickly, its 10-point halftime deficit returned as the Nittany Lions went cold. Penn State was offset only by back-to-back made 3-pointers from Mikey Henn. And instead, the Knights first produced an 18-6 run as Penn State’s shooting formally disappeared altogether. 

Unable to connect on multiple looks as Rutgers switched its defensive strategy, doubling Jalen Pickett on the perimeter to force the ball out of is hands and into the arms of open shooters (leaving Pickett both scoreless and spotless in the second half), the Nittany Lions would manage only one make from the floor after Henn’s second 3-pointer at the 13:23 mark. 

And with it, the personality Shrewsberry has been trying to guard against all season, that of a feel-good offensive team, again reared its head. Admitting the offensive deficiencies wore on the Nittany Lions, according to Wynter, the inability to solve Rutgers’ perimeter trapping approach wormed its way into every facet of Penn State’s effort the rest of the way.

“It is crazy because you look, we led the game for 32 minutes and 30 seconds. I don’t know what you’re down about,” Shrewsberry said. “That means we’re playing through our offense. We’re not playing through defense. We’re not playing through stops. 

“If guys are getting down because we’re not making shots, that’s something that we’ve been preaching all year. We’re winning the game. At some point in time, it becomes winning time. It becomes, ‘I gotta step up and make a play at that point in time.’ I didn’t notice that. But, I’m trying to be as positive as possible with our group so they’re ready to play.”

Falling apart late

As the Knights kept coming, boosted by a heating-up Caleb McConnell and timely buckets from Simpson down the stretch, Penn State found itself in a tailspin. 

What’d been a comfortable lead whittled away. Effort play after effort play, made shot after made shot, to where McConnel’s 3-pointer at the 2:36 mark finally evened the score at 54-54. 

While two made free throws for Seth Lundy provided a moment of respite, the Nittany Lions retaking the lead, a blow-by and-one for Simpson to take a 1-point lead, and an Omoruyi putback to extend the Knights’ advantage to 3 with 32 seconds remaining, was enough to finish Penn State. Unable to connect on two final 3-point looks at the basket, capping a stretch of 14-straight misses, the final five all from beyond the arc, the Nittany Lions ran out of chances.

“We left the door open too many times,” Shrewsberry said. “Even when we weren’t scoring the basketball, we couldn’t come up with timely stops, they would get long offensive rebounds. They hit every timely basket that they needed to make and we missed a lot of them. But, it was because of the things that we did early in the game.”

Shrewsberry owns the loss

Taking ownership of the performance, Shrewsberry said it was his responsibility to steer Penn State into the answers it needed offensively for Rutgers’ defensive approach in the second half. 

Though the Nittany Lions were getting open looks, that all but three missed in the final 17 minutes of action (out of 21 taken) was a product of an inability to attack the basket with shots not falling from deep. 

“They tried to double on the perimeter and force (Pickett) to pass. Maybe some of those, it ended up in the swing, swing, shot, instead of a swing, a swing, attack a close out. Maybe we get a layup, maybe we get a kick out, maybe we get a second drive,” Shrewsberry explained. “We didn’t get enough of that. We didn’t get enough second attacks. They’re unbelievable defensively on the first side. But every defense in America, I don’t care if it’s the Celtics, Sixers, or the Nuggets, nobody can guard multiple sides if you keep swinging, if you keep moving and keep attacking. 

“As a coach, you’re trying to preach that, but sometimes you don’t get it. That’s okay. We didn’t attack and make the right play, but that’s on the coach, man. I’ll be better.”

The Nittany Lions (17-12 overall, 8-10 B1G) will get their next opportunity to do so Wednesday. They’ll travel to face Northwestern for a 9 p.m. tip.