After road swing, Nittany Lions back at BJC to host Purdue
Eighteen days had passed between Penn State’s 87-85 overtime loss at Indiana on Dec. 30 and the Nittany Lions’ next game.
Paused due to a Covid-19 outbreak within the program earlier this season, the Nittany Lions had compiled a 3-4 record to that point, topping VMI, VCU and Virginia Tech before dropping the first three games of the Big Ten schedule. Tasked with traveling to Purdue for their return to action, then, the Nittany Lions were met by a rude awakening.
“Looking back at that game, it was pretty ugly on our end,” Penn State interim head coach Jim Ferry said Thursday. “That was our first game out of the pause. We were not very sharp.”
Not very sharp didn’t necessarily equate to not playing very hard, though.
Not a subscriber? Join us with our FREE 30-day premium trial
Falling behind 18-9 at the midpoint of the first half, the Nittany Lions struggling to shoot from the floor to the tune of just 4 of 20, a closing stretch of 10 of 15 pulled the Nittany Lions to a 33-32 deficit heading to the locker rooms. Maybe more important, Purdue big man Trevion Williams had been limited to just six minutes of playing time thanks to two fouls, and Penn State was able to stay competitive on the glass as a result.
“I thought we played really hard,” Ferry said. “I thought we got Trevion in some foul trouble, but it took us a while to hit a three in the first half.”
Ultimately falling in an 80-72 decision, the Nittany Lions' familiar shooting woes proved fatal. Taking a barrage of 3-pointers in the second half, making seven but needing 26 attempts to get there, the Nittany Lions will look to reverse the effort in a Friday evening rematch between the two programs. Set to host the Boilermakers (15-8 overall, 10-6 Big Ten) at the Bryce Jordan Center (7 p.m., FS1), Ferry laid out the difficulty of the task at hand against Matt Painter’s outfit.
“They're good. I think they're pretty deep. There are always very, very difficult to defend,” he said. “I think we're a different team right now than we were when we did play them, but I also think they've improved since the last time we played them.
“It still comes down to we're gonna have to defend the paint and have to defend and rebound and try to stay out of foul trouble.”
Keenly aware of elements that proved to be damaging to the Nittany Lions the first time around, Williams finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds and the Boilermakers finishing with a 33-13 edge in free throw attempts, Ferry acknowledged the challenge on tap for senior forward John Harrar in the post and the Lions’ team defense as a whole. Needing to also contain guard Sasha Stefanovic, who finished with a team-high 15 points last time out, Ferry said his Nittany Lions (8-12, 5-11) will have their hands full.
“They're playing really good basketball right now, if not some of the best basketball in our league,” Ferry said. “A major challenge obviously is Trevion Williams, one of the best low post scorers in our league and Stefanovich, one of the shooters in the league. It's a team that got a lot of weapons, very disciplined, very difficult to defend.
“We have a game plan on how we're gonna have to try to keep Trevion off balance, and then they come in with the 7-foot-4 kid, (Zach) Edey, off the bench. It’s a big, physical team. We're gonna have to defend and rebound.”
*******
• Talk about this article inside The Lions Den
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue-White Illustrated
• Follow us on Twitter: @BWIonRivals, @NateBauerBWI, @RivalsSnyder, @DavidEckert98
• Follow us on Instagram
• Like us on Facebook