Here are 3 takeaways from Penn State men’s basketball’s 86-83 win over Nebraska
Penn State men’s basketball stopped its four-game losing streak with a win Tuesday evening on the road. The Nittany Lions defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 86-83, to improve to 8-12 overall and 5-11 in the Big Ten.
Here are three takeaways from the win.
1. Two players dominate the first half
There wasn’t a whole lot of scoring going on in most of the first half from the majority players on the court. Players were struggling to get easy looks and struggling to convert once they got them. That was the case for all but two players — Nebraska’s Teddy Allen and Penn State’s Myreon Jones. Those two were prolific as scorers in the half to the point that it was essentially a useless endeavor to try to get anybody else going. Allen finished the first half with 28 of Nebraska’s 38 points, while Jones had 17 of Penn State’s 39.
The Nittany Lions struggled to stop the Husker guard as he knifed his way through the defense and occasionally took the opportunity to shoot over it from deep. Jones earned most of his scoring doing the letter, firing shots in contested and uncontested situations to light up the scoreboard. Allen and Jones turned an otherwise ugly half of basketball into something worth tuning in for Tuesday night.
2. Allen proves nearly unguardable
Jones slowed down in the second half but the producing never really stopped for his counterpart. Allen put up 41 points in the game to go with eight rebounds and six assists, with little the Nittany Lions did affecting him on offense. He wasn’t just scoring in bunches either, he was doing it efficiently. The Nebraska guard made 16-of-24 from the field including 6-of-9 from the 3-point line. Penn State never tried anything extra against him in the game and it allowed him to use his size to get shots off wherever he wanted them on the floor.
He attacked the rim, he shot from deep and he found open teammates to pace the Huskers in almost every aspect of the game. Allen played remarkably well, but the lack of adjustments by Penn State allowed him to nearly lead his team to another win over the Nittany Lions.
3. Shots finally fall for Penn State
Penn State has struggled mightily to hit open looks at times during its four-game losing streak, but that wasn’t the case Tuesday night. The Nittany Lions made 37.8% of their 37 3-point attempts and 84.2% of their free throw attempts in the game. Those numbers aren’t prolific, but they were an improvement for a team that desperately needed to earn a win — especially one against the worst team in the conference. Three different players — Jamari Wheeler, Myles Dread and Jones — made at least three shots from beyond the arc and set the tone for the team.
Those three, along with 13-of-6 free throw shooting from John Harrar and Jones, provided some efficiency on offense when the Nittany Lions desperately needed to prove they could make shots when they get open and when they get free opportunities at the line.
This story was originally published February 23, 2021 at 10:21 PM.
