Here are five takeaways from Penn State’s 75-71 road victory over Ohio State
Penn State went on the road and won its third game in a row Thursday night, defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes 75-71 in Columbus, Ohio. The Nittany Lions are now 17-11 on the season and 8-9 in the Big Ten.
Here are five takeaways from their victory over the Buckeyes.
Pickett early foul trouble
Penn State was in trouble early when Jalen Pickett picked up his second foul of the game with 13:54 left in the first half. The Nittany Lions have been carried by the senior guard all season and without him the offense has struggled to find its footing. However, the group managed to stay afloat in the initial stretch without him. They had a two point lead when he exited and returned with the game tied. Yes, they lost those minutes by two, but given his importance it could have been much worse.
Managing those minutes will be important for the rest of the season, so it’s a good sign that Penn State was able to find its way through them in an important stint on the road.
Wynter and Lundy carry the load early
Pickett’s absence was notable in the first half but so was his level of play. After scoring 73 points in his last two, he was off early in this one. He only scored two points in the half and struggled to get to his spots. Pickett was able to pick up three assists in the half, but his performance was still noticeably below where it had been of late.
Fortunately for Penn State, Cam Wynter and Seth Lundy were at the top of their game. The duo combined for six made 3-pointers on nine attempts, along with eight free throw attempts by Lundy. Six of those came on 3-point attempts he drew contact on. Their 25 combined points were all but 12 of the entire team’s in the first half and helped take care of things with Pickett struggling.
Pickett takes over
Those first half foul-related woes could have kept Pickett off his game all night, but the fifth year senior wasn’t deterred. He completely took over the game in the second half and was the main reason the Nittany Lions closed out the win. Pickett racked up 21 second half points and continually got his team buckets when it mattered most. There were several moments late in the game when Penn State needed to score and he took over.
He backed down opponents, putting them underneath the hoop before they realized what happened and going up to score. Thursday’s performance wasn’t his best of the season, but it might have been his most important.
Freshmen impact
Penn State hasn’t gotten consistent contributions from its freshmen this season, but two of them stepped up to give the Nittany Lions key minutes against the Buckeyes. Both Evan Mahaffey and Kanye Clary made key contributions for the team and helped fill in some of the gaps on both ends of the court.
Mahaffey looked more like the defender he was earlier in the season when he was excelling, creating chaos and getting into his opponents to throw them off. Clary was more effective offensively, where he attacked off the dribble and got to the rim to put pressure on the defense. Their impact moving forward could have a major say in whether or not the season closes out positively for the Nittany Lions.
Keeping the momentum
Ohio State is a team in dire straits of late, but that doesn’t take away the quality of the win for Penn State. It’s currently a quadrant one win for the Nittany Lions, but could drop to quadrant two, when it comes to their NCAA Tournament resume. Essentially, it’s dropped into the same bucket — for now — as the team’s home win over Indiana and road win over Illinois. That will help quite a bit when the committee decides who makes the tournament.
There is still plenty of work to be done for Penn State, but it took care of business once again for the program’s third win in a row.
