Myreon Jones Has His Best Game of Season in 87-85 Loss to Indiana
Despite Penn State suffering a heartbreaking overtime loss that would’ve given the Nittany Lions their first conference win of the season, Myreon Jones finally had a game that Penn State fans expected him to have.
Jones started out the season on a major cold streak. Before conference play, Jones had yet to score over 20 points in a game, even though he was seen as a potential first option with Lamar Stevens going to the NBA. Jones was the only player on last year’s team other than Stevens to average double-digit points, as he put up 13.3 per game.
Through the first five games of the year, Jones struggled to find his stride, as the best field-goal percentage he had in a game was 41.7%, and the most points he had was 17 against Seton Hall. In that Seton Hall game, Jones made only five shots on 17 attempts.
However, starting with the Illinois game, Jones finally looked like the scorer Penn State fans knew he could be, as he and Izaiah Brockington took over with Jones posting a season high 21 points. Jones capped off a massive Penn State run early in that game with a deep 3-pointer, giving fans a signal that he’s back to his old self.
Head coach Jim Ferry has mentioned several times throughout the season that this is a Penn State team that could have a different leading scorer every game rather than a star who takes over when needed most, such as Lamar Stevens last season. Ferry was happy to see that one of those leading scorers was Jones after the Illinois game.
“We are a team that could have a different leading scorer every night,” Ferry said. “To see Myreon Jones come around last game was important.”
Jones followed up that game with another strong performance in a loss against Indiana. Jones once again led the team with 20 points while only taking nine shots in the game, four of them being made 3-pointers. Despite the effort, Penn State still dropped a close one in overtime, losing to Indiana 87-85.
Jones was one of four Nittany Lions who scored in double figures, and he also led the team in minutes with 35.
Jones definitely showed last season that he’s capable of having a 20-point night, as he had six of them with the most points being 22. He was clearly an important part of last season’s surprising Penn State team, as when he missed almost all of February with an illness, the team struggled and started to fall in the Big Ten standings.
Now with Jones starting to find his form, it could be the offensive boost the team needs with a tough schedule on the horizon, especially with Seth Lundy struggling as of late and Izaiah Brockington still finding his role on the team.
Jones and the Nittany Lions will return to State College on Sunday to take on No. 6 Wisconsin.
Logan Bourandas is a sophomore in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email lxb5412@psu.edu.
