Penn State basketball looks to flip script in regular-season finale at Rutgers
Mike Rhoades you’ve gotten invoked the snowball effect a number of occasions this season when speaking about his Penn State basketball staff. A couple of issues go improper, and all of the sudden, it goes from dangerous to worse, and the Nittany Lions are in a gap. Most of the time, they can not dig out of it.
The newest instance got here in opposition to Ohio State on Wednesday night time when Penn State went 13-and-a-half minutes between photographs and the Buckeyes went on a 26-3 run throughout that stretch. After holding an early lead, the Nittany Lions had been by no means aggressive once more in the 94-62 defeat at the Bryce Jordan Center.
Rhoades has harped on his younger staff’s maturity this season, and Penn State has another likelihood in the 2025-26 common season to present that it has grown when it faces rutgers at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Sunday (midday ET, BTN).
“It’s a couple good plays, and just snowball,” Rhoades mentioned Wednesday night time. “We couldn’t react or respond, and then it goes for 10, 12 minutes. And against a good team…”
Penn State appeared to have momentum coming into Wednesday night time’s house finale in opposition to Ohio State. The Nittany Lions had been just a few days faraway from their last-second win over Iowawhich was arguably their finest efficiency of the Big Ten slate. Rhoades felt Monday’s observe was good, and he felt optimistic after shootaround. Penn State even held an early 8-7 lead.
Then, issues stopped working.
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A theme that has been frequent this season returned for the Nittany Lions throughout this stretch. The offensive stagnation began affecting issues at the defensive finish. Then, the opponent kicks into gear.
“It’s kind of hard to put my finger on it, but in my opinion, I just feel like we didn’t play with the same heart that we had that game [vs. Iowa]”guard Dominick Stewart mentioned Wednesday. “Shots aren’t dropping, s— not going your way, and it’s easier to go inward, I feel like. I feel like that’s kind of what we did tonight, instead of just sticking it out, sustaining our defense, doing whatever it takes to get it done.”
Penn State (12-18, 3-16 Big Ten) was with out standout guard Kayden Mingo for the loss to Ohio State after he was injured late in the second half in opposition to Iowa. Rhoades mentioned postgame that he knew Monday that Mingo wouldn’t playand Rhoades did not volunteer any perception for the freshman’s standing at Rutgers (12-18, 5-14).
Still, Penn State practically upset No. 2 Michigan and pushed No. 5 Purdue on the highway with out Mingo in January. The loss to Ohio State wasn’t about one participant. Rhoades noticed team-wide points in opposition to the Buckeyes.
“When you feel sorry for yourself or you get frustrated, it makes the game harder,” Rhoades mentioned. “You saw that today. You saw that. It was disappointing because I thought [against Iowa]we were completely the opposite, but that’s called sport.”
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Penn State’s 85-72 loss to Rutgers on Feb. 18, which additionally featured a major first-half deficit for the Nittany Lions, marked the fourth-most factors the Scarlet Knights had scored in a sport this season (third-most in a regulation sport), and the 13-point margin was their largest in a Big Ten win this 12 months. The solely groups Rutgers has defeated by extra this season are Rider (28 factors), UNLV (15) and Delaware State (15).
The Nittany Lions are assured another sport in the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago. Penn State clinched final place in the league, so the Nittany Lions will face both Rutgers or Northwestern —which beat Penn State by 21 points in January — in the No. 15 vs. No. 18 sport Tuesday.
There are solely two extra alternatives for the Nittany Lions to present that Rhoades’ classes have been taken.
“The teaching part of it is you got to continue to learn, watch tape from it and sit down with guys and explain it to them that sooner or later, it’s got to stop happening,” Rhoades mentioned.
After Wednesday’s sport, Rhoades confronted questions on his job safety as he fell to 44-50 total and 18-41 in Big Ten play throughout his three-year tenure. Given the youth of the roster this winter, there have been all the time going to be challenges for Penn State.
But the variety of noncompetitive video games — the Ohio State loss was the fourth 30-point defeat of the season — have mounted, and the script has felt acquainted. Time is working out to flip it earlier than the offseason arrives.
“I think we just got to come together more,” Stewart mentioned. “We’re like, ‘He’s missing. ‘Oh, he’s missing.’ I get that happens. You might get into your feelings a little bit, but at the end of the day, we got to do whatever it takes to get it done. And tonight, we didn’t.”
Daniel Gallen covers Penn State for Lions247 and 247Sports. He could be reached at daniel.gallen@cbsinteractive.com. Follow Daniel on X at @danieljtgallenInstagram at @bydanieljtgallen and Bluesky at @danieljtgallen.bsky.social.
