Game Grades: Men’s Basketball vs. Ohio State

Story posted December 8, 2019 in CommRadio, Sports by Kevin McConlogue

Penn State had a rough start to conference play, getting blown out by Ohio State 106-74 on Saturday afternoon at Value City Arena in Columbus. The 106 points were the most ever given up by the Nittany Lions in a Big Ten conference game. Here are some grades from Saturday’s game:

Offense: C

It was a tough day for the Nittany Lions as Ohio State got Lamar Stevens in foul trouble. Stevens eventually fouled out on a questionable technical foul in the second half and took away Mike Watkins inside.

The Nittany Lions then were forced to become a perimeter and 3-point shooting team. They’ve gotten better this year but it is still not a strength as Penn State only shot 34 percent from 3-point range. Izaiah Brockington was a spark off the bench for the Nittany Lions, scoring a season high 19 points.

Penn State only got 16 combined points from Jamari Wheeler, Myles Dread and Myreon Jones, most of which came in garbage time. The Nittany Lions will need more production from their guards if they want to compete with big time teams like Ohio State.

Defense: D

The usually very good Nittany Lion defense fell victim to an offensive clinic put on by the Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio State shot 53 percent from three for the game and over 70 percent in the second half. Wherever the Buckeyes shot from, it went in the hoop, even when the Nittany Lions were able to get to the end of the shot clock.

Kaleb Wesson had a career day and Penn State had no answer for him. He scored 28 points, was 9-of-16 shooting and 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. His little brother Andre also couldn’t be stopped by Penn State as he put in 15 points.

Ohio State’s guard play of Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington was also exceptional combining to go 8-of-11 from 3-point range. This was the first game of the season where it also seemed like Mike Watkins did not make much of an impact on the defensive end for Penn State.

Coaching: C

This was a very good Ohio State team that Penn State played today. It was not a blowout from start to finish, as it was close a little bit into the second half. Chris Holtmann’s halftime adjustments were better than Pat Chambers’ adjustments.

There was also a couple times where Penn State was starting to get wild with the ball and Chambers could have used a timeout to slow it down, but chose to play on. He might look back at that and wish he could change things a little.

 

 

Kevin McConlogue is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism with a minor in political science. To contact him email kpm5520@psu.edu.