Five takeaways from Penn State’s 74-68 loss to Maryland on the road
Penn State couldn’t stop its losing streak Saturday afternoon on the road against Maryland. The Nittany Lions fell to the Terrapins 74-68, marking the program’s fourth loss in a row.
Let’s take a look at five takeaways from the game.
Rare turnover issues
Easily the strongest part of Penn State’s offense this season is that it doesn’t turn the ball over. The Nittany Lions entered the game as the best in the country when it comes to turnover rate, which made the start to the contest that much more surprising. They coughed the ball up and gave it to Maryland eight times in the first 12 minutes of the game. Those extra possessions allowed the Terrapins to build a lead despite not being prolific shooting the ball.
Their lead ballooned to 12 with 7:22 left in the half, holding the Nittany Lions to nine points at that time largely because they couldn’t even get shots up because of the turnover. The offense’s poor start would usually spell disaster for Penn State early on.
Defense carries early
However, the team’s defense looked as good as it has all year to keep the team afloat. Maryland had only scored 11 points in the first 10 minutes and 31 in the first half overall.
It wasn’t necessarily just the scoring prevention that impressed either. The Nittany Lions looked far more locked in on that end of the court than they have most of this season, doing a good job of preventing the Terrapins from getting to the rim and getting easy looks. Penn State mixed in four first half blocks to go with the overall effort and it made what came next much more possible, and much more important.
End of half run
The lack of scoring from Maryland opened the door for Penn State to go on a run to end the half — and that’s what the Nittany Lions did. They scored 19 of the half’s final 29 points after the Terps took a 21-9 lead, making it a 31-28 game. It came on the back of some timely shooting the team had been in desperate need of, but more importantly the defense stayed relatively staunch.
Two made 3-pointers from Andrew Funk, along with one each from Seth Lundy and Myles Dread, pushed Penn State’s effort on the offensive end of the court and helped avoid the issues the team faced in the first 10 minutes of the game.
That stretch was the first time in a few games the Nittany Lions had it going on both ends of the court at the same time.
Maryland closes out strong
Penn State managed to keep it close down the stretch, but the game turned after an offensive foul call on Myles Dread. Dread had four fouls after that one, picking up another one shortly thereafter, fouling out for the final minutes of action. That first foul spurred a 9-0 run for Maryland that all but ended the game. The Nittany Lions couldn’t make shots down the stretch, couldn’t protect the rim and the Terrapins started making their own looks.
They went from looking like the team that blew out Michigan at the Bryce Jordan Center to the one that no-showed for its game against Nebraska.
Clary earns a role
One of the few bright spots in the game was freshman Kanye Clary’s performance and what it could mean going forward.
Clary’s minutes have waxed and waned early in the season, with double digit minutes coming in some games and none coming in others. He scored a career high 17 points Saturday afternoon, but how he did it was far more important. The freshman guard used his speed to get to the rim and finish through contact, something nobody else on the roster possesses. Pickett gets to the rim with strength and size, but doesn’t blow by his opponents.
Clary adding some punch off the dribble could add another much needed dimension to the Penn State offense to close out the season in order to give Pickett a break down the stretch.
