Penn State men’s basketball takes down Youngstown State in season opener, 75-59
Penn State men’s basketball opened its season at home Wednesday night and earned a victory in head coach Micah Shrewsberry’s debut. The Nittany Lions took down the Youngstown State Penguins, 75-59, in the Bryce Jordan Center.
The game was close to start with Penn State struggling to make open looks and the Penguins hitting difficult ones. The Nittany Lions were able to build a reasonable lead thanks to the inside scoring of John Harrar. Harrar was able to move defenders and get easy layups on his way to 10 first half points, tied for the team lead at the break with Seth Lundy.
The duo’s 20 points led the Nittany Lions to a 35-26 lead at the half, despite only two points from Jalen Pickett on 0-5 shooting from the field, which included 0-4 shooting from beyond the arc.
The team’s offense came out strong in the second half to continue its run, growing the lead as high as 16 at one point. That was aided by Pickett, who found a rhythm to start the half by scoring five of the team’s first eight points. His scoring and playmaking combined with Penn State’s work on the offensive glass to build that lead.
That wasn’t the last the Penguins would be heard from, though. They managed to cut the lead to six on two separate occasions in the game’s final 10 minutes, applying pressure to Penn State to answer when it had the ball.
Sam Sessoms helped diminish the effectiveness of the Penguins’ run by scoring eight straight points for the Nittany Lions as the lead stretched back to double digits.
His scoring helped close out the win for Penn State, pushing the program to 1-0 on the season.
Player of the game
Senior center John Harrar: In a game where the Nittany Lions struggled to find consistency, Harrar’s steadiness was vital. He finished with a double, tallying 16 points and 14 rebounds. He was a consistent presence down low, providing the offense with a safety valve down low when it was unable to any easy offense.
While Harrar’s energy and effort stood out as they have since he arrived on campus, he showed more skill than he previously displayed, making the extra pass to shooters multiple times. His ability to pass from the post should be useful to Penn State as it tries to space the floor around him.
Turning point
Penn State extends its lead to nine: The Nittany Lions trailed the Penguins by four with 10:58 left in the first half and were struggling to get much traction on offense. They followed that up by looking for easier shots on offense and it paid off. They scored eight of their next 18 points on layups and five of them on free throws to earn a 35-26 lead at the half. That stretch seemingly opened up the team’s offense and led to better looks the rest of the way.
Stat of the game
43: That’s how many rebounds Penn State finished with in the game, out-rebounding the Penguins by 18. Harrar was a key reason for that rebounding success, pulling down his 14 boards, including four on the offensive end. The senior center is one of the best rebounders in the Big Ten, so it’s of no surprise that he found success on opening night. Harrar’s production was supplemented by that of Jalanni White, who pulled down three offensive rebounds in his debut as a Nittany Lion.
Up next
at Massachusetts: Penn State will head to Amherst to take on Massachusetts for its first road game of the season Monday evening. The Minutemen are currently 1-0 after a 77-60 win over UMBC Tuesday night to open their season. The matchup will be a small reunion with former Nittany Lion Trent Buttrick playing for Massachusetts. Buttrick scored 16 points, pulled down seven rebounds and earned five steals in 23 minutes in his debut.
The game will be the Nittany Lions only true road game until Dec. 11 when they travel to East Lansing to take on the Michigan State Spartans.
