Game Day Essentials: Game #17 at Penn St

[hhcmatt]

Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-12) vs #24 Penn State Nittany Lions (7-9)

 

Date: Saturday Feb 14st, 2021
Time: 2:00 p.m. 

Arena: Bryce Jordan Center

Broadcast:  BTN

Penn St. Info

Head Coach: Jim Ferry
Location: University Park, PA
Conference: B1G
Nickname: Nittany Lions

Mascot: The Nittany Lion
Conference Record: 4-8
Typical Rotation Depth: 8

Spread: Penn State by 11

KenPom rank: 30

 

Players to watch:       Myreon Jones

On this balanced scoring Penn St team Jones leads the team in 3pt attempts and makes, hitting 40% on the season.  Jones also leads the team in scoring.

 

Roster points

 

PG	SG	SF	PF	C	Pct
1	5 Jamari Wheeler 6-1  170  Sr	0 Myreon Jones 6-3  180  Jr	12 Izaiah Brockington 6-4  200  Jr	1 Seth Lundy 6-6  219  So	21 John Harrar 6-9  240  Sr	17.5
2	5 Jamari Wheeler 6-1  170  Sr	0 Myreon Jones 6-3  180  Jr	12 Izaiah Brockington 6-4  200  Jr	2 Myles Dread 6-4  220  Jr	21 John Harrar 6-9  240  Sr	17.5

 

With the departures of Mike Watkins and Lamar Stevens Penn St isn't running much offense through the post

 

• Seth Lundy as taken over the 4 spot from Stevens; his 3pt shooting has fallen off this year. Functions as one of the few shot blockers on the team
• Brockington is a lock down defender who mostly shoots inside the arc
• PG Jamari Wheeler spearheads this ball hawking defense that generates a lot of steals. He's a pure point guard in the sense that he barely shoots so you could see defensively challenged Kobe Webster playing some big minutes tonight
• Myles Dread still hasn't improved on his freshman numbers like this team would expect and often slots as an undersized forward for this small Penn St squad.
• Binghamton transfer Sam Sessoms is interesting as I wonder if the team might have been better off in the future had he redshirted.  The high scoring combo guard functions as the PG when Wheeler is off the court and as an undersized SG when they play together.  The Philly native is 2nd on the team in assists and 4th in scoring coming off the bench.
• John Harrar generates contact, getting to the line a ton while also racking up plenty of fouls on his own. Is one of 5 PSU players averaging over 9 points a game and leads the team in rebounds.
• Forward Trent Buttrick backs up Harrar but his poor finishing ability and defending makes him a substandard replacement

 

 

The Skinny:

Penn St and Pat Chambers had built something in Happy Valley, being among the elites in the conference over the prior 3 years in KenPom ranking and on their way to the first NCAA appearance of Chambers' tenure.  (Projected as a 6 seed by some)  Covid-19 hits and there goes the tourney.  Chambers mouth finally writes enough checks he cannot cash and just before the season starts Chambers is gone.  Current Penn St assistant and former Duquesne and LIU Brooklyn coach Jim Ferry takes over for the team in November.  While Ferry has the title of interim you have to wonder if he has a good shot at retaining the job of the 5th most important sport at the school.

 

Stylistically at this point I'd attribute Penn State's change in play and performance to the change in personnel as opposed to coaching style. It's slightly shocking given Jim Ferry's past and the lack of size on this roster that this team doesn't play faster.  Penn St doesn't shoot all that well nor do they get to the FT line often.  Their lack of size makes them vulnerable inside and no doubt the Huskers will spread them out in order to drive the lane. Penn St lives off of extra possessions, aggressively winning the turnover and rebounding games and playing with the sort of control Hoiberg wants to limit careless turnovers. 

 

There doesn't seem to be real rhyme or reason to this Penn St squad other than they are a tough out.  Nebraska has shown resiliency over the last week but you have to wonder how much they have in the gas tank against a Penn St squad that has had 5 days to prep.  

 

Prediction: Penn St 80 - Nebraska 72

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[Handy Johnson]

How many Women’s sports (other than Volleyball obviously) are you putting ahead of their Men’s Basketball program? Just curious...

[hhcmatt]

2 hours ago, Handy Johnson said:

How many Women’s sports (other than Volleyball obviously) are you putting ahead of their Men’s Basketball program? Just curious...

 

Football, Women's VB, hockey, wrestling

[Bugeaters1]

3 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

 

Football, Women's VB, hockey, wrestling

You for got softball, and that is not a very good program at the moment.

 

[Handy Johnson]

9 hours ago, hhcmatt said:

 

Football, Women's VB, hockey, wrestling

Those were the same ones I came up with. Lou Nanne (former North Star Coach) always speculated that Nebraska would have a Hockey program sooner rather than later. Hard to say, I know the B1G would like to add another program, but until we get Football/Basketball back on track, I don’t see it.

[hhcmatt]

7 hours ago, Handy Johnson said:

Those were the same ones I came up with. Lou Nanne (former North Star Coach) always speculated that Nebraska would have a Hockey program sooner rather than later. Hard to say, I know the B1G would like to add another program, but until we get Football/Basketball back on track, I don’t see it.

 

Feels like letting UNO be the hockey program works. 

[throwback]

Yeah, there was a time when NU was strongly considering adding hockey, but that time has passed. They don't want to step on toes at UNO & there's nowhere for NU to play - Pinnacle is too busy in the winter & too big. Their only option is a significant expansion at Breslow & that's not in the cards right now.

 

Actually, Illinois has moved the farthest along for adding hockey. Iowa would be farther along than NU as well. However, with the athletic departments hurting financially all over the league, I'd guess no one is planning to add anything anytime soon.

 

I'd guess the B1G will just end up adding Arizona St to get to 8 teams. They gave it a trial run of sorts early this year.