Penn State men’s basketball hopes to turn up intensity against Iowa
Time is running out for Penn State men’s basketball to improve its NCAA Tournament resume. The Nittany Lions have three games left in the regular season and only two against top-tier Big Ten teams — including No. 18 Iowa on Saturday.
With the sand in the season’s hourglass running low, the sense of urgency has to increase for the team. After snapping a two-game skid Wednesday night with a 65-64 win over Rutgers, the intensity is picking up for Penn State.
“I do think the intensity is there,” Penn State head coach Pat Chambers said Friday. “I think there’s excitement. I think they all see the potential of how we can finish the season in a great fashion. I think they’re getting excited for postseason play, too. There’s a lot of juice in practice today and a lot of energy in our film sessions right now.”
Chambers noted his team’s intensity wasn’t where it needed to be during its two recent losses to Illinois and Indiana.
“Sometimes it can go the other way,” he said. “I thought the speed bumps that we hit with Illinois and Indiana, I didn’t know if we had the intensity that you needed for an entire game.”
Still, his team was highly competitive in both games and had plenty of reasons to not come out on top. The Nittany Lions were without sophomore guard Myreon Jones in both games, and haven’t had him for their past six contests. Jones has been day-to-day since Penn State’s Feb. 8 win over Minnesota.
The team’s second-leading scorer has missed the past six games and left the Nittany Lions with a scoring void. They’ve gone 4-2 without him, but his absence was notable in the two losses. He averages 14.1 points per game but the way he scores is more important. Jones can create his own open looks in a pinch and is especially helpful late in games when defense tightens up.
Fortunately for Penn State, that scoring may be back sooner rather than later.
“He’s getting closer, that’s for sure,” Chambers said Friday. “We’re going to give him a good run through tomorrow morning. I would say the likelihood is better than in the past.”
A Saturday return would have a big impact on the contest with Iowa.
The Hawkeyes have the best offense in the Big Ten according to Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted offensive efficiency rankings, which calculates the estimated number of points a team would score in 100 possessions against an average defense.
Jones would bring added firepower to match Iowa, although he may not play a full complement of minutes if he returns.
“I’ve got to be smart with him (when he comes back),” Chambers said. “I’m not going to put him on a minutes restriction. I’m going to keep asking him how he’s feeling and then just touch base with the trainer and see what he thinks and come up with the best formula possible.”
Even if he plays limited minutes, Jones can add to the Penn State offense that will need to go toe-to-toe with Iowa senior center Luka Garza, the conference’s leading scorer. Garza, who averages 23.6 points per game, scored 34 points when the Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions matched up in early January at the Palestra.
Chambers applauded Garza’s ability but said his team knows what it takes to slow him down.
“(We’ve all) got to play really well against Garza and do what we can ... to make it difficult to feed Garza,” he said. “Our bigs need to do a good job of not just sitting behind (him). ... The guy has great footwork, he sprints the floor every single time. It’s going to be our mindset, our conditioning, versus him to try to wear him down.”
Penn State has proven it can beat Iowa when Garza is playing at a high level, but that’s much easier to do once than it is twice. If the Nittany Lions can pull it off a second time, it’ll be a positive sign heading into the final two games of the season.
Saturday’s game is the start of the home stretch for Penn State, where it’ll need to prove it can hit its stride at the right time.
“I thought you saw a great version of us in the first half against Rutgers,” Chambers said. “If you can add (Jones) into the fold now you’re adding a different element. ... I think if we can get him back then you start to get to where you want to go, or at least you hope to, over the last week here. ... We’re getting closer, but I’d like to see us put a 40-minute game together.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2020 at 5:56 PM.
