Penn State Men’s Basketball Game Grades: At Rutgers
The final game of the regular season didn’t end in ideal fashion for Penn State as the Nittany Lions fell to Rutgers on Sunday.
In what was the third loss in a row for the blue and white, the Nittany Lions fell 59-58 to the Scarlet Knights in Piscataway.
Here’s how each position group performed during Sunday’s loss.
Offense: C+
It was a tale of two halves for the Penn State offense which didn’t pick things up until the second half of play.
A slow start lowered the hopes of the Nittany Lion faithful with only 21 first-half points compared to the 37 points eventually scored in the second half.
Despite the slow start, there were some bright spots including Seth Lundy who had one of his most efficient games of the season with 20 points while making more than half of his shots.
Lundy was one of two double-digit scorers for Penn State with John Harrar joining him on the small guest list.
Defense: A-
Honestly one of the better defensive performances from this team despite the loss.
The 59 points put up by the Scarlet Knights was the lowest point total the Nittany Lions have held a team to since allowing 46 points in a win over Minnesota five games earlier.
Ron Harper Jr., who has spent most of the season torching opposing defenses, was held to just 15 points as the team’s leading scorer and only double-digit point getter.
On Penn State’s side of things, Harrar provided a strong impact in the paint as per usual with 17 rebounds which came just a few games after he posted a career-high of 20 in that category against Northwestern.
Harrar’s efforts led to the Nittany Lions dominating the rebounding battle and to go along with a rough shooting day for the Scarlet Knights, it was a job well done defensively.
Coaching: B+
Despite another close loss for the blue and white, it was a well-coached game for Micah Shrewsberry.
With Penn State down by eight points at the half, Shrewsberry’s halftime adjustments nearly led to a completed comeback against one of the top teams in the Big Ten conference.
The Nittany Lions also managed to do a good job holding onto the basketball with just eight turnovers throughout the game.
It’s not the way Shrewsberry wanted to end the season, but now the job is to survive and advance as the focus moves to the Big Ten Tournament.
Logan Bourandas is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email lxb5412@psu.edu.
