Final: Penn State 49, Purdue 58: Penn State falls to 8-14 (0-10 in the Big Ten)
…
First of all, shame on me for actually picking this Penn State team to win a game. I predicted a 67-63 Penn State win against Purdue. There are two things wrong with that pick that I should have thought of: 1) That is far too many points to be scored in a Penn State game against Purdue; and 2) Penn State isn’t going to win again this season.
Penn State was actually ahead of the Boilermakers in the first half, they had an 11 point lead early in the game (I could be wrong on the exact number, I’m still trying to regain my composure after watching this offensive game). Penn State fed the big men a lot early on in the game, with Sasa Borovnjak and Brandon Taylor getting a couple quick buckets. After halftime, however, Penn State’s bigs were no where to be seen, probably because they were in foul trouble (again). Three Nittany Lions players fouled out in this game, a recurring theme that is killing this team. Foul trouble. Nick Colella, Jon Graham, and Sasa Borovnjak all fouled out tonight. D.J. Newbill led Penn State with 17 points and 7 assists, while A.J. Hammons was the best player on the floor tonight for the Boilermakers, scoring 15 points, with 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. He went 11-12 from the free throw line (again, foul trouble…). Newbill was the only double digit scorer for Penn State. Jermaine Marshall didn’t show up to play tonight, going 2-14 from the field and 3-5 from the foul line to score 7 points.
On the bright side, Ross Travis finally had another good game, going 4-8 from the floor, with 8 points and 8 rebounds.
What else….
Honestly, I don’t really feel like anyone needs to hear why Penn State lost tonight, because it is the same damn reason every time:
They. Don’t. Make. Damn. Shots.
If Penn State didn’t play tenacious, aggressive defense, I don’t think they would even have the 8 wins do have, they would probably be 5-17. I wish I had an answer to how this team actually beat Bucknell…
The Nittany Lions next game is Saturday, February 9th, at Nebraska. The game is at 9:00 PM.
#PrayForPennStateBasketball
