Penn State vs. Oregon State: Men’s Basketball Game Preview

Story posted November 27, 2021 in CommRadio, Sports by Trevor Grady

The Penn State Nittany Lions and the Oregon State Beavers are set to clash in the final round of the Emerald Coast Classic on Saturday afternoon. Both teams will be looking to bounce back from their overtime losses in the semifinals on Friday night.

The Nittany Lions took on LSU on Friday night in what turned out to be a last-second thriller.

Penn State was the undermatched squad, but it found itself with the ball trailing by just two with four seconds remaining in regulation. Senior guard Jalen Pickett’s inbound pass was tipped around and Myles Dread was able to just toss it up towards the hoop.

A struggling Seth Lundy found himself wide open on the back-side block for the putback with 0.6 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

LSU ended up winning the overtime period 10-5 and came away with the 68-63 victory, but Penn State had a lot of positives to take away from the Friday night faceoff.

Pickett had his best game yet as a Nittany Lion, posting 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists. He shot 55% from the field and knocked down four triples.

Sam Sessoms scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half and was the biggest reason Penn State was able to crawl back and tie up the game late in regulation.

The Beavers had their fair share of stress down the stretch in their Emerald Coast Classic contest with Wake Forest. Junior guard Gianni Hunt’s slam with 53 seconds tied the game at 69 and forced the extra period for the Beavers.

The Demon Deacons won the extra frame 11-8 on their way to a 6-0 record to open the season, while Oregon State fell to 1-5 on the season following the overtime finish.

The Nittany Lions are now 3-2 in the first five games of the Micah Shrewberry era, but will be eager to pick up a win in their final game in Destin, Florida.

The Beavers have lost five straight since winning their opener against Portland State three weeks ago.

Their last three losses have come by a combined margin of five points, and they have certainly shown that they can compete with solid power five opponents as they did against Wake Forest.

Oregon State has three different players averaging double figures on the young season so far. Warith Alatishe, Jarod Lucas and Maurice Calloo are averaging 12.3, 10.3 and 10.2 points per game, respectively.

The Nittany Lions may have found a bit of identity in their overtime loss on Friday night with Pickett coming to life offensively. Penn State has three of its own double-digit scorers in Sessoms, Seth Lundy and John Harrar, but adding Pickett to the mix, who is averaging 9.8 points per game, could add some much needed consistency.

The Nittany Lions average 14 turnovers per game and will have to limit that number against an Oregon State team who tallies 7.5 steals per game.

Sessoms and Pickett will win the backcourt battle and give the Nittany Lions a much-needed confidence booster on Saturday afternoon.

Prediction: Penn State 68, Oregon state 66


Trevor Grady is a fourth year majoring in supply chain management. To contact him, email tmg5685@psu.edu.