Penn State goes away from Bryce Jordan for the second time in four games, this time to the more familiar stomping grounds of Philadelphia. La Salle, not expected to do much in the Atlantic 10 this season, and coming in at 204 in Kenpom prior to the game, but with a cast of grad transfers and upperclassmen, was still posed to provide a challenge for this freshman laden Penn State team.
The game started with La Salle scoring the first five points of the game. From there, you could immediately see that
this game was going to be just like the Navy game a few days ago. Penn State scored the next seven points to make it 7-5, then, the teams see sawed back and forth, each taking the lead, until, just like in the Navy game, the Nittany Lions went on a 16-0 run to turn a 9-12 deficit into a 25-12 lead.
It was 27-12 when La Salle was forced to call a timeout. The Lions were 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, and were getting just about everything they wanted. The scoring drought did end for La Salle shortly after, though, as they finally saw a shot go in to make it 29-14 with a little under eight minutes to play in the half.
By the time Penn State missed a three-pointer, there were four minutes and 59 seconds left in the first half. That’s the kind of game they were playing early. All that said, The Explorers didn’t just lay down. They did close the gap from 18 to 13 as the half closed out, to make it a little less of a climb in the second half.
The teams traded baskets for the first four minutes of the second half, but that’s not something La Salle could really afford to do, as the Lions were more than content with bleeding clock up 14 points.
Penn State used one last run to take the fight out of La Salle. Up 70-49 with 8:50 left in the game, the remaining nine minutes were a mere formality. Yes, the Explorers made one last run, they even cut it as close as 10 at one point, but it’s hard to make up a 21-point deficit in eight minutes.
Player of the Game
Ivan Jurcić – 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
Losing Yanic Konan Niederhauser to the NBA was a major blow. And, coming into the season, we didn’t know if there was going to be a replacement. Jurcić has plenty of room to make up to be that. But so far it’s looking like the drop-off isn’t going to be as drastic as we originally assumed.
This could easily be all the freshmen, really, as Melih Tunca, Kayden Mingo, and even Tibor Mirtič getting in on the action.
Random Observations
These threes – The Lions finished X-of-X from three-point range, good for XX percent. If Penn State can shoot the three at that clip moving forward, they can be way more dangerous than any of us imagined. Granted, La Salle was doing a poor job of defending the three, so there’s some grains of salt to apply to this output.
Not enough fouls – This game was fairly clean until the last six or so minutes of the game, where, players couldn’t do anything without the whistle. Let’s do more of the former, thanks.
4-0 for the fourth time – For a team that hasn’t seen much success, and plenty of upsets by worse teams than the previous four, it’s good to see.
Looking Ahead
The Nittany Lions are back home on Wednesday, November 19, as they host Harvard. Game is at 6:30 PM on Big Ten Plus.
