The second of a three-game opening week for Penn State saw the Nittany Lions take on Chattanooga, a squad that put on a respectable performance at Louisville in their own season opener, and one who would present a step up in competition when compared to Canisius, but should still be a game that should ultimately end up with a comfortable enough win.
Sure enough, it looked that way in the early going, as both teams engaged in a three-point shooting contest, with Thomas Allard nailing a pair while Chattanooga’s
Kobe McDowell-White nailed a few treys himself, including one that tied the game at 11 four minutes in. It was from there however, that Penn State started to take over by dominating on the boards and garnering some turnovers that led to buckets on the other end, as they pushed their lead into double digits and took a 54-33 halftime lead into the locker room.
Chattanooga did not just fade away and go through the motions in the second half though, as they went on a 6-0 run to cut the PSU lead down to 15 before the Nittany Lions finally got themselves a basket four minutes into the half to momentarily stop the bleeding. Heavy emphasis on the “momentarily” part, because McDowell-White continued to light it up from downtown as PSU showed a complete inability to cover him. Not to mention, the Mocs discovered that they could just drive past the Nittany Lion players en route to an easy layup and draw fouls. This, combined with the Nittany Lions’ colder shooting, allowed Chattanooga to cut the lead down to single digits a few times.
With PSU up 85-72 with four minutes to go, the Mocs went on a 7-0 run over the next minute to cut the lead to six and put the Nittany Lions in a dicey situation, which required Josh Reed to make some critical baskets and free throws to keep Chattanooga at bay. Yet another McDowell-Wbite trey cut the lead to 91-86 with 37 seconds left, followed by a truly scary moment where PSU nearly had the ball stolen but was able to maintain possession and find a wide-open Reed for a dunk. The Mocs would still respond with a few more shots of their own, but PSU was able to get it done at the free throw line to stave off the miracle rally at preserve the win.
Player of the Game
Josh Reed – 25 points, 15-for-16 FT, 5 rebounds, 5 steals
Josh was practically doing it all tonight on both ends of the floor. When Chattanooga made this game uncomfortable in the second half, he usually had a response in the form of a bucket or getting to the line to make his free throws. He was also one of six Nittany Lions to put up double digits in scoring, with Ivan Jurić (15), François Wibaut (14), Roko Prkačin (13), Dasonte Bowen (13), and Thomas Allard (11) also joining Reed in that category.
Random Observations
Welcome Back, Dan – Former Nittany Lion star point guard and assistant coach Dan Earl made his return to the Bryce Jordan Center as Chattanooga’s head coach. It was his third time back on the opposing sideline in his head coaching career, having done so twice when he was VMI’s head coach in 2015 and 2020.
YOU Get a Foul, And YOU Get a Foul! – The whistle-happy referees called a combined 54 personal fouls in this game. As a result, PSU saw themselves get to the line 49 times tonight, making 43 of their free throw attempts. Compare that to Chattanooga, who had fewer trips (23) and far fewer makes (14). If the Mocs had been able to convert a few more of their attempts from the line, we could be talking about a very different outcome in this one.
A Tale of Two Defenses – Not that they were world-beaters defensively in the first half, but good lord was that an absolutely pathetic defensive effort in the second half. What should have been a relatively comfortable win ended up being a nail-biter towards the end as the team just allowed continual wide-open three point attempts and easy layups, as the Mocs put up 62 points in the second half. If they play remotely like that against Pitt on Sunday night, they will get smoked.
Up Next
Penn State (2-0) heads to Philly this Sunday for their annual Palestra game when they take on Pitt (1-0). Tip-off will be at 8:00 PM EST on ESPN2.
