Nittany Lions return home to take on Zips

Story posted November 25, 2014 in CommRadio, Sports by Abhar Shah

The Penn State Nittany Lions (4-1, 0-0 B1G) take on the Akron Zips (3-1, 0-0 MAC) Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Bryce Jordan Center.

After both teams went 2-1 at the Charleston Classic, it’s safe to say both these teams want to keep the momentum that they picked up over the weekend.

Akron is coming off a close, hard fought win against South Carolina. This was a huge win for Akron because they had lost to South Carolina twice last year. 

A huge loss for Akron is not having arguably their best player Demetrius Treadwell on the court, as he’s serving a suspension for an off-court incident.

Penn State has played solid so far in the season. They are coming of two close wins and their only loss came in double overtime to Charlotte.

Both offenses have the capability of putting up big numbers offensively. Akron is averaging about 65 points per game on 40 percent shooting and Penn State is averaging 73 points per game on 43 percent shooting. 

For Akron, they have three players averaging in double digit scoring. Noah Robotham leads the team in scoring averaging 12 points on almost 47 percent shooting. He is followed by Kwan Cheatham Jr. and Pat Forsythe, who both average around 10 points per game.

Penn State looks to their senior guard D.J. Newbill for an offensive spark. He is having a terrific season averaging almost 24 points per game including a 35 point outburst in the loss to Charlotte. This offense is red hot as they have scored more than 70 points in three of their last four games.

Not only are the Nittany Lions playing great offense, their defense looks on point as well. The Nittany Lions defense is holding opposing teams to less than 36 percent shooting. Penn State’s defense has only had two teams score more than 70 points against them on the season. However, they were dominated on the boards against a young USC Trojan squad, which should be a point of emphasis for head coach Pat Chambers moving forward.

Akron is not a bad defensive team either. They are pesky and average seven steals per game. On the season, they have allowed 61 points per game on 42 percent shooting. But what’s hurting that defense is not having their best player on the court.

They key for Akron is to stop D.J. Newbill. He can do it all on the offensive and defensive side of the court. He is shooting at a very high percentage thus far in the season, so any open shot for Newbill is bound to be easy points for this offense.

For Penn State, they need to keep doing what they’ve been doing all season. They have the home crowd behind them and as long as they don’t turn the ball over against this defense, the Nittany Lions should win this game fairly easily.

Abhar Shah is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him email abs5349@psu.edu.