Inconsistency Plagues Penn State in Loss
The Penn State men’s basketball team (9-10, 1-5 Big Ten) fell to the Minnesota Golden Gophers (14-5, 2-4 Big Ten) on Sunday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center by a score of 80-66.
The Nittany Lions had a rough afternoon offensively, shooting just 30 percent from the field. Penn State head coach Pat Chambers was understandably upset with the effort put forward by his team against Minnesota.
"I'm disappointed with our effort," Chambers said. "I've got to do a better job of getting our guys ready to play."
The team's shooting woes were particularly evident with sophomore guard Jermaine Marshall. Marshall finished the game just 4-19 from the field. Chambers said that Marshall was demanding too much of himself and was pressing as a result.
Penn State’s senior guard Cammeron Woodyard led the Nittany Lions in scoring with 22 points. Junior guard Tim Frazier contributed 20 points, and now leads the Big Ten in 20-point games with nine.
The game moved at a sluggish pace all afternoon, with the referees calling 52 fouls and the teams shooting 72 free throws. Chambers maintained that the constant stoppages in play were not the cause of his team's inconsistency.
"The refs had nothing to do with this game," Chambers said. "It was all about us."
A game that was tied early in the second half was quickly taken over by Minnesota thanks to 11-0 run by the Golden Gophers. That run was keyed by an intentional foul call on Penn State’s Matt Glover.
Coach Chambers called the intentional foul a matter of “playing hard but reckless.”
Penn State forced Minnesota into mistakes but the Nittany Lions were unable to capitalize, scoring just 16 points off of 17 turnovers. Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith complimented Penn State for their tenacity on the defensive end.
“Penn State’s a good team," Smith said. "They get after you defensively and pressure you."
Minnesota came into the afternoon riding the momentum off of their 77-74 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers on January 12th. Smith said that his team’s improvement in the last two games was a result of sharing the basketball better.
Joe Coleman led the way for the Golden Gophers with a career high 23 points. The freshman guard was constantly getting to the free throw line and converted once there, finishing the day 13-14 from the line.
The Nittany Lions were without freshman Trey Lewis, who was not dressed for the game due to a back injury. He will undergo tests this week and his status going forward is uncertain.
The game marked Penn State’s fifth loss in their last six games and they will look to turn things around on Thursday at 9 p.m. when the Illinois Fighting Illini visit the Bryce Jordan Center. The game will be aired live on ComRadio with pregame coverage beginning at 8:30.
Dan Cronin is a sophomore majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact him, email djc5353@psu.edu.
