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Basketball Penn State Basketball falls to Ohio State 79-67

Any path to winning for us today likely involves controlling the defensive boards. They are one of the better offensive rebounding teams in the country, and they killed us with offensive rebounds in the first meeting. Luckily, we had a rare hot shooting night from behind the arc, and forced them to turn it over a bunch. We can turn them over again, but unlikely we'll shoot like that. And need to make sure we're not helping off of Battle and leaving him open from deep, as he's been on fire at home (20 for 31 on 3's since the start of December).

Unfortunate that we catch them coming off of 3 straight losses, as they'll be ready to go. Would love to see us hang around in this one for a while...it's likely our toughest game left the rest of the regular season.
 
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OSU takes early 16-0 lead. OSU 11 rebounds vs 6 for PSU.

Mahaffey dominating against former teammates. PSU has no answer for OSU's more physical players.
 
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OSU takes early 10-0 lead. OSU 7 rebounds to 3 for PSU.
This is ridiculous right now. Ohio State can get whatever they want and Penn State making bad passes and can’t do anything.
 
Give it time. This OSU BB team has a habit of CHOKING late in the game. They suck
 
Give it time. This OSU BB team has a habit of CHOKING late in the game. They suck
They're 12-5 so they mustn't suck too much. PSU can't come close to matching their physicality. PSU has to rely on creating turnovers and hitting 3s.
 
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They're 12-5 so they mustn't suck too much. PSU can't come close to matching their physicality. PSU has to rely on creating turnovers and hitting 3s.
I don't follow BB that closely - like I used to - but if you read their boards, they have a habit of choking away games in the last 5 minutes under Holtmann. Many of those 12 wins were against low caliber - high school competition. I just think PSU makes a run in this game late
 
Basically played them even on the boards, and they went 0-8 behind the arc…would have thought that’s a recipe for hanging with them. But our staggering 2 for 19 inside the arc has killed us (and not getting to the line once, while they went 7-8).
 
I don't follow BB that closely - like I used to - but if you read their boards, they have a habit of choking away games in the last 5 minutes under Holtmann. Many of those 12 wins were against low caliber - high school competition. I just think PSU makes a run in this game late
They didn’t even play one of the bottom 50 teams in the country. They’ve got plenty of good wins, so I wouldn’t put too much stock in their overly emotional message board fans.
 
Basically played them even on the boards, and they went 0-8 behind the arc…would have thought that’s a recipe for hanging with them. But our staggering 2 for 19 inside the arc has killed us (and not getting to the line once, while they went 7-8).
I think you're being generous saying 23-18 is essentially even on the boards. Also look at how OSU physically took PSU defenders to the rim and either scored or got fouled. This game wouldn't be close if OSU had hit a few 3s.
 
If Wahab could start playing better this would be a lot closer, but doesn't look like one PSU is going to win
 
I didn’t have this as a W but thought they would be better. Hopefully a run to get it to single digits is coming
 
I think you're being generous saying 23-18 is essentially even on the boards. Also look at how OSU physically took PSU defenders to the rim and either scored or got fouled. This game wouldn't be close if OSU had hit a few 3s.
The offensive/defensive split was basically even…offensive for us was 6 to 19, defensive was 12 to 4. We missed a lot more shots, so they’d be expected to get more rebounds…total rebounds doesn’t tell the story as well. If we can keep Ohio St to only getting 25% of their misses, we’re far exceeding expectations.
 
OSU is hosting 67% on 2 pt shots. Mostly forcing their way into the paint and taking layups. PSU simply can't match up physically.

Good thing OSU is 1-13 from 3pt range.
 
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One bright spot IMO is that Lilley is getting meaningful PT. I think he could be good as a senior.
 
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Started too late. Too
Much to overcome.
not a good game; they can't start like that. Rhoades called a TO when it was 10-0, and I thought he should have called it at about 6-0 because it was clear OSU was on fire. But even after that OSU continued to cause problems, and it was 16-0 before we got going. After that, PSU stayed with them the rest of the way. There were some bright spots, like Puff Johnson having a good day.
 
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not a good game; they can't start like that. Rhoades called a TO when it was 10-0, and I thought he should have called it at about 6-0 because it was clear OSU was on fire. But even after that OSU continued to cause problems, and it was 16-0 before we got going. After that, PSU stayed with them the rest of the way. There were some bright spots, like Puff Johnson having a good day.
OSU's fast start wasn't because of hot shooting. It was all because they were physically stronger and they aggressively took PSU defenders to the basket.

I'm sure Puff Johnson has some skills but he's not physically strong enough. Kern Jr is extremely athletic but also not strong enough. O'Boyle gets overpowered at this level. Hicks was back to 1-5 shooting 3s and he doesn't contribute much else.
 
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OSU's fast start wasn't because of hot shooting. It was all because they were physically stronger and they aggressively took PSU defenders to the basket.

I'm sure Puff Johnson has some skills but he's not physically strong enough. Kern Jr is extremely athletic but also not strong enough. O'Boyle gets overpowered at this level. Hicks was back to 1-5 shooting 3s and he doesn't contribute much else.
I think it was more like they were forcing PSU into off-balance shots that weren't falling. They were hot and it threw PSU off pretty badly. From the time it was 16-0, PSU basically played them evenly but obviously that was way too much to overcome. I thought Wahab didn't have a good game. also it is so hard to win on the road in the B1G and it is due to the officiating. really it is kind of ridiculous, even when we benefit from it at home. It's like the league tells them not to call any fouls on the home team.
 
I think it was more like they were forcing PSU into off-balance shots that weren't falling. They were hot and it threw PSU off pretty badly. From the time it was 16-0, PSU basically played them evenly but obviously that was way too much to overcome. I thought Wahab didn't have a good game. also it is so hard to win on the road in the B1G and it is due to the officiating. really it is kind of ridiculous, even when we benefit from it at home. It's like the league tells them not to call any fouls on the home team.
They were definitely giving Clary & Baldwin fits but their shooting was 2' from the basket. I think they were 0-8 from 3pt range.
 
We have played 3 road games in January and have not made any of them competitive. Expected it with Purdue but with this game it was a joke the first 10 minutes. Was hoping for a better effort coming off the Wisky win. You can't miss every shot you take. Did not expect to win that game but my God can we keep a road game within 6 or 7 at halftime and maybe go into the last 10 minutes down only 6 or 7?

I think we are going to see a team scrape out a few more wins at home against the bottom half teams that visit but I am doubtful we see any road wins.

It is what it is at this point for year 1 with Rhoades. It is a process (of how long....2-3, 4 years?) to get this program in a position to make the Dance.
 
It is what it is at this point for year 1 with Rhoades. It is a process (of how long....2-3, 4 years?) to get this program in a position to make the Dance.
people were saying that about the last guy, and he was in the NCAA tournament in year 2. Also 2020 was an NCAA tournament team until the season was canceled by Covid. This is no longer the program that it was in 2004, where any hopes of a tournament were 5+ years away. it is not in that bad of shape anymore.
 
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people were saying that about the last guy, and he was in the NCAA tournament in year 2. Also 2020 was an NCAA tournament team until the season was canceled by Covid. This is no longer the program that it was in 2004, where any hopes of a tournament were 5+ years away. it is not in that bad of shape anymore.
I agree with that and really hope year 2 we could see big improvements. With the transfer portal especially with basketball you only need a couple guys to make a big difference. But, there is no guarantee. We play in an excellent league and its not like the upper half B10 teams are suddenly going to become bad programs. I have faith in Rhoades that he can build a solid program that could have consistent Dance invites.
 
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But, there is no guarantee. We play in an excellent league and its not like the upper half B10 teams are suddenly going to become bad programs.
Exactly...plus, some of the other lower tier teams will improve. Rutgers has a ridiculous recruiting class coming in, and those two could move them up the league ladder very quickly. And then we're adding 4 schools that are somewhere between really good and solid. We'll really need to land a difference-maker in either the portal or a late HS signing (and/or really hit a home run in the 2025 class).
 
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This is what I expected from this team this year. Had a terrible game and were totally overmatched against Purdue, comes back and beats a ranked Wisconsin team, then looks bad again against Ohio St. They were thrown together as best as we could late and despite a coach that will get the program going in the right direction, they are going to be very inconsistent this year. A couple of years from now, I expect us to be consistently better. It's not in the cards for year 1.
It wasn't losing this one that bothers me, it was that we really didn't come to play the game. We were sluggish, unprepared for what Ohio State was doing, and didn't make any corrections until it was too late. We lose very little next year if Rhoades can keep them all together, and what we have coming in is better than what is going out. The only missing piece for next year will be a solid post player. If he can bring one in through the portal we could be very good next year. Unfortunately Favour Aire isn't the answer.
 
I agree with that and really hope year 2 we could see big improvements. With the transfer portal especially with basketball you only need a couple guys to make a big difference. But, there is no guarantee. We play in an excellent league and its not like the upper half B10 teams are suddenly going to become bad programs. I have faith in Rhoades that he can build a solid program that could have consistent Dance invites.
There is no room to bring in talent from the transfer portal, unless we lose some of those who could come back. Just by playing together for a year will help to improve this team, and if they all come back, except Mitchell, O'Boyle and Wahab who leave, this team will be solid. Just need a solid post player.
 
Exactly...plus, some of the other lower tier teams will improve. Rutgers has a ridiculous recruiting class coming in, and those two could move them up the league ladder very quickly. And then we're adding 4 schools that are somewhere between really good and solid. We'll really need to land a difference-maker in either the portal or a late HS signing (and/or really hit a home run in the 2025 class).
I am much more optimistic about next year than most. If Rhoades can keep the team together we will lose O'Boyle Wahab and Mitchell. and what he has coming in is much better than we lose. We lose 3 and bring in 3 which doesn't leave room for portal help, unless someone else moves out. I am afraid it could be Jameel Brown if Rhoades doesn't increase his minutes, and I hate to lose him. The only problem then is what we have this year, very little in the post.
 
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It wasn't losing this one that bothers me, it was that we really didn't come to play the game. We were sluggish, unprepared for what Ohio State was doing, and didn't make any corrections until it was too late. We lose very little next year if Rhoades can keep them all together, and what we have coming in is better than what is going out. The only missing piece for next year will be a solid post player. If he can bring one in through the portal we could be very good next year. Unfortunately Favour Aire isn't the answer.
Wahab is the biggest loss. PSU desperately needs a big man who can score and defend in the paint.
 
It wasn't losing this one that bothers me, it was that we really didn't come to play the game. We were sluggish, unprepared for what Ohio State was doing, and didn't make any corrections until it was too late. We lose very little next year if Rhoades can keep them all together, and what we have coming in is better than what is going out. The only missing piece for next year will be a solid post player. If he can bring one in through the portal we could be very good next year.
Losing Wahab will be rough...we really need a portal 5 to replace him. And I'm also concerned about the lack of shooters; even though O'Boyle hasn't had a lot of success here, he's likely our best shooter. We really need more shooters for us to be "very good".
 
I am much more optimistic about next year than most. If Rhoades can keep the team together we will lose O'Boyle Wahab and Mitchell. and what he has coming in is much better than we lose. We lose 3 and bring in 3 which doesn't leave room for portal help, unless someone else moves out. I am afraid it could be Jameel Brown if Rhoades doesn't increase his minutes, and I hate to lose him. The only problem then is what we have this year, very little in the post.
The 3 coming in might be better than the three we're losing in the long term...but I certainly wouldn't count on them being better than those 3 next year.

I'd be surprised if everyone else is back...you can usually count on some attrition from somewhere. And we really need it, since we are still missing a couple of pieces to really take a step forward.
 
I am much more optimistic about next year than most. If Rhoades can keep the team together we will lose O'Boyle Wahab and Mitchell. and what he has coming in is much better than we lose. We lose 3 and bring in 3 which doesn't leave room for portal help, unless someone else moves out. I am afraid it could be Jameel Brown if Rhoades doesn't increase his minutes, and I hate to lose him. The only problem then is what we have this year, very little in the post.
I’m afraid we’re going to lose Clary.
 
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Losing Wahab will be rough...we really need a portal 5 to replace him. And I'm also concerned about the lack of shooters; even though O'Boyle hasn't had a lot of success here, he's likely our best shooter. We really need more shooters for us to be "very good".
O'Boyle is definitely not our best shooter. he is a role player and his role seems to be sub in for a few minutes and hope he can get a 3 while he's at it
 
O'Boyle is definitely not our best shooter. he is a role player and his role seems to be sub in for a few minutes and hope he can get a 3 while he's at it
He's had four seasons shooting 36% or better behind the arc...this year has been the outlier. He struggled a lot in the non-conference, but has shot 44% in conference play (in a relatively limited sample size).

If you told me that I could have anyone on the team tonight get a wide open 3, I'd take Leo.
 
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Why? NIL money or just to play with a winning team?
I think he’s going to be a hot commodity and I’m not sure playing for PSU is enough of a draw to keep him here. I could be way off, but that’s my fear.
 
Losing Wahab will be rough...we really need a portal 5 to replace him. And I'm also concerned about the lack of shooters; even though O'Boyle hasn't had a lot of success here, he's likely our best shooter. We really need more shooters for us to be "very good".
Our two best shooters from deep are Clary at almost 39% and Jameel Brown at 40%. I am afraid that Brown will hit the portal because of lack of playing time. Can't understand why he doesn't play more.
 
He's had four seasons shooting 36% or better behind the arc...this year has been the outlier. He struggled a lot in the non-conference, but has shot 44% in conference play (in a relatively limited sample size).

If you told me that I could have anyone on the team tonight get a wide open 3, I'd take Leo.
O'Boyle is a good shooter, unfortunately for him, Rhoades has him playing way out of position. It is not an easy task to have to defend against some of the best bigs in the country, and then try to shoot at a high %. Tracking Myles Dread's shooting, his 3 point % went down when he had to muscle bigs inside, than defending guards. The best shooter we have is Jameel Brown. His shot is pure, and he leads the team at 40%
 
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