Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1512721
M ike Rhoades understood what was coming for his Nittany Li- ons. Off to a 4-0 start to his de- but season as Penn State men's basket- ball head coach, Rhoades knew the final week of November would bring a more difficult challenge. The Lions were headed to Kissimmee, Fla., for the ESPN Events Invitational, starting with a Thanksgiving Day game against 12th-ranked Texas A&M. They would be "moving up a weight class," Rhoades mused, having easily dis- patched Delaware State, Lehigh, Saint Francis and Morehead State to open the season. The tournament would be Penn State's first appearance away from the Bryce Jordan Center, and it would pit the Lions against one of the nation's top teams, with several other talented op- ponents waiting in the wings. "Our guys are excited to play," Rhoades said prior to the trip. "We've got our hands full right off the bat with Texas A&M, one of the best teams in the coun- try. They have a heck of a coach, and we know we have our hands full this whole week. But it's exactly what we need to do. We need to be ready to play right from the get-go." Rhoades' concerns proved well- founded. The Nittany Lions dropped a hard- fought 89-77 decision to the Aggies and followed that effort with an 88-78 loss to Butler the next day. An opportunity to regroup still remained, even after the back-to-back defeats, but a Sunday morning consolation matchup against Virginia Commonwealth provided no relief. Instead, Rhoades' former team handed his current squad an 86-74 de- feat. The winless trip to central Florida, followed by a sobering 76-67 home loss to Bucknell on Dec. 2, left Penn State with a 4-4 record heading into its Big Ten opener Dec. 6 at Maryland. And in dropping those games, the Nittany Lions found a glaring vulnerability requiring immediate attention: They needed to play better defense. Defense had been a hallmark of Rhoades' previous coaching stops at Randolph-Macon, Rice and VCU, and it figured to be a strength at Penn State, too, with the Nittany Lions expected to focus on limiting opponents' scoring while working to refine their own of- fense. But at the ESPN Events Invite, the letdowns on the defensive end were wide-ranging and consistent. "We scored enough points," Rhoades said on his weekly radio show following the trip. "But we allowed maybe a bad possession to affect the next trip down the court, or a missed shot to affect our defense, or vice versa. Then we were playing frustrated. "Our frustration hurt our defense," he continued. "We gave up three games in W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 4 0 J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4 MEN'S BASKETBALL Sophomore guard Kanye Clary was leading the Nittany Lions in scoring with a 15.1-point average through eight games, but PSU has been struggling as a team on the defensive end of the floor. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS NOVEMBER RAIN After a fast start, defensive woes hinder Penn State during its visit to Florida for the ESPN Events Invitational NAT E BAU E R | N AT E . B A U E R @ O N 3 . C O M