A new-look Penn State hoops squad took the floor tonight, one which featured only a couple of familiar faces (Ivan Jurić and Josh Reed) from last season’s squad, which head coach Mike Rhoades described as the softest he had coached in his 30-plus years of coaching. Granted, it was only one game against a KenPom-ranked 342nd Canisius team, but early returns show this season has potential to be an improvement over the previous one.
The first couple of minutes were scoreless as both teams appeared to
be shaking off the rust before Brant Byers opened things up with a fast break dunk, followed by a three-pointer to put PSU up 5-0 early. Canisius answered with a make of their own, before Josh Reed hit a pair of free throws and recently NCAA-cleared Roko Prkačin scoring back-to-back buckets to make it 11-2 at the first media timeout.
The lead would only continue to expand following that first media timeout, as nine different Nittany Lions would end up recording numbers in the points column, led by Prkačin and fellow international recruit François Wibaut’s 12 and 7 points, respectively to ultimately take a 47-26 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
Roko would continue his dominance in the second half, with Jurić, Reed, and Wibaut also pitching in for double-digits scoring, as the Nittany Lions would empty the bench and go on to cruise to a dominating win in their season opener.
Player of the Game
Roko Prkačin – 28 points (12-for-14 FG), 6 rebounds, 1 block
There had been plenty of buzz about Roko from practice sessions, with suggestions that he would be one of the best players on the team, should the NCAA deem him eligible. Well, on the eve of the start of college basketball season this past weekend, the NCAA gave him the green light to suit up in games and boy, are we glad for it! Whether it was hitting jump shots, getting putback layups, or throwing down dunks while dribbling his way out of a double team, Roko put on a scoring clinic. It’s only a one game sample size, but so far it looks like a critical difference-maker for a PSU squad hoping to be more competitive in Big Ten play.
Random Observations
Don’t Forget The Other Euros – Jurić started the game off slow, but ultimately finished with a solid double-double line of 14 points and 15 rebounds, while Wibaut had 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. In addition to Roko, getting regular contributions like this from the Euros will be key to making this season a significant improvement over the previous one.
Rolling In The Deep – The starting lineup consisted of Dasonte Bowen, Thomas Allard, Brant Byers, Reed, and Jurić, but ten different players saw action for PSU in the first half alone, as Rhoades toyed around with different lineups. Ultimately, the entire bench got emptied, and ten different Nittany Lions recorded points.
What A Difference A Year Makes – This time last year, we were already sounding the alarm bells when the team got down double digits early to Fairfield and needed a furious rally in the final minutes to avoid a season-opening upset. It sure was nice to have a comfortable, dominant night as you would hope a Big Ten squad would have against one of Canisius’ caliber.
Up Next
Penn State (1-0) hosts Chattanooga on Thursday. Tip-off will be at 6:00 PM EST on Big Ten Network.
