MBB: Penn State Falls to Ohio State in a Highly Physical Battle

Audio/Story posted March 1, 2017 in CommRadio, Sports by Sammy Grossman

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.—This Tuesday night Penn State men’s basketball (14-6, 6-11 Big Ten) faced off against the Ohio State Buckeyes (17-13, 7-10 Big Ten) in an intense matchup at the Bryce Jordan Center. The final score was 71-70, and the Nittany Lions walked away with a heartbreaking loss.

Penn State’s first possession of the game resulted in a missed jumper by Lamar Stevens, which set the tone for the remainder of the game. After Stevens’ missed jumper, the Buckeyes responded with a two-pointer by Jae’Sean Tate, leaving the score at 2-0 with Ohio State in the lead. Several plays later buckeye Marc Loving scored a layup, making it four unanswered points for the Nittany Lions.

Overall, Penn State played a mediocre first half. Ohio State played a much more aggressive half, outscoring Penn State in points in the paint. Penn State had a field goal percentage of 48.1 in the first, whereas Ohio State posted a higher field goal percentage of 53.6 in the first.

Not only did Penn State lack in the offensive end in the first half; they lacked in the defensive end as well. Penn State had a total of 10 defensive rebounds in comparison to Ohio State’s 13 defensive rebounds. Overall, the Buckeyes were a lot more aggressive in the paint than the Nittany Lions.

Despite the team’s mediocre play, Shep Garner had a stellar performance for the Nittany Lions. He posted a total of 20 points, second to teammate Tony Carr, who posted a total of 21 points.

Carr is known for his trustworthiness; teammates know that they can have confidence in him to make plays. With only eleven seconds left on the clock in the second half, Garner assisted Carr in a beautiful three that put Penn State in the lead by one point, making the score 70-69.

Hopes that the Nittany Lions could capitalize increased after Carr’s basket, but all hopes were destroyed when Jae’Sean Tate scored a layup with a mere three seconds remaining, leaving the final score at 71-70.

Although Penn State had just endured a tough loss, Coach Pat Chambers walked into the conference room with his always positive attitude. He began by saying how proud he was of his players, and talked about the injuries that they were facing as a team, including a Mike Watkins injury that occurred during gameplay.

“We lost Josh Reaves with six minutes to go. We didn’t have Mike Watkins for long stretches. Julian Moore played on one leg. He put a gutsy effort forth.”

After explaining the unfortunate situation that his team had to face, Coach Chambers discussed how “this is our process, and we are going to learn from these”. Ultimately, Coach Chambers knows that he is dealing with a relatively young team, and that it will take time before the team can fully develop.

This was the Nittany Lions’ final home game this season, and they will face the Iowa Hawkeyes this Sunday, Mar. 5 at 1 p.m. in Iowa City.

 

Sammy Grossman is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email sxg5497@psu.edu.