Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1532761
6 4 M A R C H 2 0 2 5 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M F or seven weeks in the middle of its Big Ten season, the Penn State men's basketball team wore its as- pirations uncomfortably. Off to an outstanding start to the 2024-25 campaign, the Nittany Lions had high hopes and appeared capable of reaching them. Were it not for the com- pounding setbacks of close losses, criti- cal injuries and the deteriorating morale that comes with both, they might have. On Feb. 18 at the Bryce Jordan Cen- ter, an alternate-timeline version of the Nittany Lions demonstrated as much. PSU took Nebraska to the woodshed, jumping out to a double-digit lead in the opening minutes and then build- ing on it the rest of the way en route to an 89-72 victory. It was a callback to a similarly dominant performance over nationally ranked Purdue in December, a win that featured many of the hall- marks of a Penn State team playing to its highest potential. "I thought we had a good flow to our offense. We were making good decisions and really sharing the ball," coach Mike Rhoades said. "Guys can shoot it and get it inside or outside. We want easy, open shots. I thought we had good penetration and made good decisions off of that." Or, to borrow a phrase that Rhoades likes to use, the ball was hot. The Nittany Lions finished with 21 as- sists on 34 made baskets. In doing so, they notched their highest assist output since posting 31 against Coppin State at the BJC on Dec. 14. They also scored more points than in any game since that same 99-51 rout of the Bald Eagles, em- phatically breaking a seven-game losing streak that had dropped their Big Ten record to 2-11. The question raised by the team's performance against the Cornhuskers was straightforward: With the Nittany Lions having built their offensive iden- tity around selflessness and sharing the basketball, why had they strayed so dramatically? And, if looking to repeat the effort in their remaining conference games while attempting to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament, how could that performance be repeated? Rhoades' response to those questions offered a window into a season gone wrong. "Sometimes when you have adversity, you think, 'I've got to do this,' and you lose sight of the game," he said. "You take an extra dribble, you hold the ball a little bit longer or you force some- thing that's not there, instead of saying, 'He's open,' and then he goes to work and makes the right play. The Late Show The Late Show In a lopsided victory over Nebraska, Penn State offers a tantalizing glimpse of what might have been NAT E BAU E R | N AT E . B A U E R @ O N 3 . C O M MEN'S BASKETBALL Junior forward Yanic Konan Niederhauser tied for the team lead with 19 points in Penn State's 89-72 win over the Cornhuskers. PHOTO BY MARK SELDERS/PENN STATE ATHLETICS