What We Learned About Penn State Basketball From its Frustrating Loss to Pitt

PHILADELPHIA | Pitt guard Jonathan Powell made a dunk off of a turnover by Dasonte Bowen in the final seconds of Penn State men’s basketball’s 82-76 loss to the Panthers on Sunday at the Palestra. It was the most fitting end to a game where the Nittany Lions were plagued by turnovers.

Penn State turned the ball over 16 times against the Panthers, who scored 17 points off those opportunities. Every time a play like that happened, it sent the Pitt fans into a frenzy as their team kept momentum for the majority of the second half.

If there’s one main positive for Penn State, it wasn’t a 34-point blowout loss to Pitt again like last year’s game. But this season’s matchup, which marked the 150th meeting between these two teams, still showed flaws in head coach Mike Rhoades’ squad.

Here’s what we learned about Penn State, which fell to 2-1 after facing its first power-conference team this season.

Undisciplined play causes major turning point

Penn State basketball coach Mike Rhoades watches the Nittany Lions vs. the Pitt Panthers at The Palestra. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Penn State came so close to entering halftime with momentum. Wing Brant Byers made back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Nittany Lions a 35-28 lead with 5:15 left in the first half. But what happened next turned the game.

Pitt closed the half with a 14-3 run to take a 42-38 lead at halftime. The run got out of hand after two turnovers by forward Roko Prkačin and guard Jay Rodgers, which forced a timeout out of Rhoades after the Panthers scored after each of them on the fast break.

“That was huge,” Rhoades said. “That’s the part where you gotta have a level of mental discipline to play at this level, to be successful at this level. You can't just say, ‘I'm gonna go do it.’”

Rhoades also pointed out “horrendous” shot selection from his team during Pitt’s run. Forward François Wibaut forced a long 2-point jumper that he didn’t need to take, and forward Josh Reed missed two unbalanced layups.

Penn State looked to be turning a corner for a brief moment, but it followed it up by playing its worst four minutes of basketball this season. This was the turning point of the game, and the main reason why Pitt won.

“We beat ourselves today, and then Pitt beat us,” Rhoades said. “Now we got to learn not to beat ourselves, so we can go beat a team like Pitt or as good as Pitt.”

Penn State ‘couldn’t guard consistently enough’

The Pitt Panthers defeat the Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team 82-76 at The Palestra in Philadelphia. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Pitt scored off ball movement that put Penn State out of position defensively. Rhoades said he knew the Panthers would do that and was frustrated that it worked.

“That's our biggest thing is winning the point of attack,” Rhoades said. “When you move that ball, you have that closeout, you got to win that, and we didn't win that enough today.”

With Pitt getting Penn State’s defenders off balanced, it opened up driving lanes to score near the basket. The Panthers scored 48 points in the paint even though the Nittany Lions had a size advantage.

Guard A’lahn Sumler scored 26 points by getting to the basket. If he didn’t have an open look, center Baye Ndongo was a reliable option inside with 13 points. This all led to Rhoades saying Penn State “couldn’t guard consistently enough.”

“We're not the most athletic team,” Rhoades said. “We sure aren't going to be in the Big Ten. That's okay. We got to be the toughest and the most disciplined. We got to get better at that.”

Mike Rhoades believes Penn State is becoming more physical

The Pitt Panthers defeat Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team 82-76 at The Palestra in Philadelphia. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Rhoades thinks Penn State is making progress from a physicality standpoint. The Nittany Lions outrebounded Pitt despite the loss, 37 to 28. Physicality is Rhoades’ emphasis as he works to improve from last season’s 12-20 record.

“Last year, we weren't at all,” Rhoades said. “We were weak and soft and really young. We got bludgeoned. We're older. We're bigger. I thought we at times rebounded really well today. We have to continue to do that against teams like Pitt.”

Center Ivan Jurić gathered 13 rebounds and scored 16 points for his third straight double-double to open the season. Prkačin and Reed each grabbed seven rebounds as well.

But foul trouble was an issue, and Rhoades would like to see more physicality with less fouling. Jurić sat out much of the first half after picking up two early fouls. Backup center Tim Oboh was called for three fouls in two minutes, so Prkačin had to play more center than power forward at times.

Bowen and guard Thomas Allard each had four fouls, too. Penn State’s fortunate Pitt only shot 68.2 percent from the free-throw line, or this could’ve been a loss by a wider margin. Regardless, Rhoades believes physicality is improving.

“[It’s] better than it was two weeks ago,” Rhoades said. “Not good enough where it needs to be right now. We got work to do on that. We know that, and we got to make sure that we use tonight and grow from it and get better, and if this happens again, we win this game.”

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