Here are 3 takeaways from Penn State men’s basketball’s 60-58 loss to Michigan State
Penn State men’s basketball couldn’t earn a second win in a row when it went on the road to face Michigan State Tuesday night. The Nittany Lions lost to the Spartans, 60-58, to drop to 7-9 overall and 4-8 in the Big Ten.
Here are three takeaways from the loss.
1. Nittany Lions’ early offensive woes continue
Penn State could only muster 23 points Friday night against Maryland and saw more of the same issues Tuesday night. The Nittany Lions put up a paltry 24 points against Michigan State in the first half and couldn’t hit anything from the field. They went 10-of-31 from the field and made only one of their 10 3-point attempts in the game’s first 20 minutes. Seemingly every player on the team was ice cold with the exception of John Harrar. The senior center accounted for nine of their 24 points to pace the team and consistently found offense by crashing the glass.
He continues to be a crucial part of the team and an even more important part of the offense when his teammates aren’t making shots from deep. Harrar gives them extra opportunities when they’re cold and was a big part of the reason they only tried by eight at the half.
2. Henry keeps Michigan State offense afloat
The Spartans didn’t have much to show for themselves for long stretches on offense, either, but junior wing Aaron Henry kept them going when they were cold from the floor. Henry is a big physical presence on the wing with good athleticism and the talent to play in the NBA. He’s mostly made his impact defensively — where he can stop some of the best in college basketball — but has added more to his repertoire offensively this season and showed some of it against the Nittany Lions. He used his size and strength to attack an undersized Penn State team around the rim and even stepped out and hit two 3-pointers in the win.
The Michigan State offense struggled just as much as Penn State’s at times in the game, but Henry’s ability to keep the offense intact when he was on the floor made their offensive floor much higher than the Nittany Lions’ offensive floor.
3. Penn State’s NCAA Tournament hopes are dwindling
The Nittany Lions need to get to .500 if they want to make the NCAA Tournament and Tuesday was one of their best chances to do that. Instead, they’re one game further away from that mark after dropping the game to the Spartans. They’ve had a very difficult schedule this season, but it’s difficult to justify putting any team in the tournament that has lost more games than it has won. Whether it’s right to do so or not, it’s not something that’s likely to happen
Instead, Sunday’s matchup with Nebraska is now a must win and Penn State will need to pick up another game down the stretch to put itself more firmly in the conversation to make its first NCAA Tournament since 2011. Penn State is a good team with multiple chances to make up for this game waiting ahead, but Tuesday night will go down as a blown opportunity for the Nittany Lions.
