Penn State men’s basketball looking to silence doubters with win over Ohio State Saturday
Penn State basketball is facing extended adversity for the first time this season and is staring in the face of a major test. Win against the Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday and the Nittany Lions will quiet the “here we go again” crowd that has begun to circle the team like a pack of hyenas.
Lose and those naysayers gain another data point, another loss added to a losing streak, and another reason to doubt the Nittany Lions.
Right or wrong, Penn State head coach Pat Chambers will always have his doubters. His team is 12-5 with a 2-4 Big Ten record and a three-game losing streak. It’s also the No. 37 team in the country, according to Ken Pomeroy’s KenPom rankings, and four of its five losses have come to teams in the top 31 of the KenPom rankings.
Yet naysayers will point to Chambers’ teams’ past performances, including an 0-10 start to Big Ten play last season, as reason not to believe in his team. They’ll say the three-game losing streak is indicative of what’s to come. Fortunately for the Nittany Lions, those past struggles are out of sight and out of mind.
“I believe we’re a different team,” Chambers said about comparing this year’s team to last year’s. “I just believe we have more depth, more talent. I believe we’ve got to live in the present and not the past. If we dwell and live in the past that’s only going to hurt us. So stay present, live in the moment, you can’t win the moment unless you’re in the moment.”
To be fair to the Nittany Lions, it’s not like they needed to win any of the last three games to achieve their goals. Making the NCAA Tournament is still firmly in play and a likelihood at this point in the season. They’re projected as a No. 8 seed in ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest bracket projection. They’re playing in the best conference in college basketball and have only lost one home Big Ten game.
That’s why Penn State has to earn a win Saturday. The Nittany Lions are going to need home wins the rest of the season in a conference that has proven how strong its home-court advantage is. Home teams are 36-6 so far this season in Big Ten games, making home wins a must and road wins a luxury. Fortunately for Penn State, it will take on the conference’s two worst teams — Nebraska and Northwestern — the only two teams outside the KenPom top 50, on the road. While road wins aren’t easy, those two just might be.
That being said, the team still needs to get back on track at home. Saturday’s game is an excellent opportunity to do that in front of what’s projected to be a large crowd for the game.
“(We have a) great opportunity tomorrow,” Chambers said. “I know we’re close to a sellout. That’s exciting to me.”
The Buckeyes are the Nittany Lions’ first rematch of the season. Penn State went into Columbus in its Big Ten opener on Dec. 7 and went home with a 106-74 loss. The loss was the team’s second of the year and the first by more than a possession. Chambers said, while the Nittany Lions have already seen the Buckeyes, they need to focus on what they’re doing to improve and not what Ohio State is doing.
“Ohio State was on fire against us,” Chambers said. “We can’t focus on Ohio State and that last game. For us to stop this streak here, it has to be all about us. I just believe Penn State is beating Penn State.”
The Nittany Lions were without star senior forward Lamar Stevens for the final 13:26 of that game after he fouled out. Stevens has struggled with foul trouble this year, and allowed that frustration to boil over in Penn State’s most recent game. He and Minnesota’s sophomore center Daniel Oturu got in a shouting match during Penn State’s 75-69 loss Wednesday night, and it spilled over to after the game when the two players started jawing in the postgame handshake line.
Chambers said Stevens has to keep his cool in those situations and not let his frustrations consume him.
“He’s a senior and he’s got to be able to get through that frustration,” Chambers said. “He’s an older guy now, he’s a veteran, he’s got to be able to bounce back more quickly, and he will. He just wants it so bad ... And you respect that and you love his dedication and you love that about him. But he also just has to show some poise and calm, because everybody’s watching.”
Stevens’ presence on the floor is important for Penn State. He’s the team’s leading scorer with 16.1 points per game and is one of the best players in the conference. Come Saturday, he’ll need to lead the Nittany Lions to a victory to keep his team on track, silence its doubters and stay on course to make the NCAA Tournament.
