Penn State basketball suffered a tough loss after battling back against Nebraska, an eventually 72-63 final on Sunday in Lincoln. Trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half, the Nittany Lions got the score to within three points late in the second half before the Cornhuskers were able to seal the deal.
Now 14-9 on the season and 5-7 in the Big Ten, this week coming up is a big bounce-back week for PSU. Here are five takeaways from Sunday’s game.
BIG RUNS ARE A KILLER
Despite a decent start to Sunday’s game, with Penn State being down 15-13 at the 14:42 mark of the first half, things quickly got away from the Nittany Lions after that point as Nebraska rattled off an 11-0 run to go up 13 points and another 9-0 run late to go up 15. Penn State had its own share of runs in the second half, but those runs became too little, too late.
INABILITY TO SCORE IN THE FIRST HALF....
Nebraska’s 11-0 run was aided by Penn State going cold offensively. For a nearly five-and-a-half minute stretch, the Nittany Lions didn’t make a field goal, missing eight-consecutive shots while turning the ball over twice. Later in the half, Penn State went nearly three-and-a-half minutes without scoring. Both those dry stretches proved to be crucial down the stretch.
FOUL SHOOTING STRUGGLES CONTINUE....
Penn State currently takes the least amount of free throws of any team in the nation at just 10.5 free throws a game. Sunday’s numbers didn’t help that cause at all as the Nittany Lions took just four foul shots, going 1-of-4 from the line, compared to Nebraska’s 18 free throw attempts, shooting 10-of-18 from the line. Shooting not even 56 percent from the charity stripe shouldn’t win a team a game, but Nebraska made nine more free throws on the day.
CORNHUSKERS DOMINATE IN THE PAINT....
Penn State went to the three-ball often on Sunday, shooting 14-of-38 from the perimeter. Those 42 points accounted for two-thirds of the Nittany Lions’ total scoring in the game and while they won in the three-point shooting category, where they fell short was points in the paint. Nebraska scored twice as many points in the paint, 32-16, and that aggression is a big reason why the Cornhuskers shot 18 free throws in the game.
ANDREW FUNK CONTINUES TO SHINE FROM THREE....
The Nittany Lions might have become a bit too overly reliant on three-point shooting on Sunday, but someone who hasn’t stopped his perimeter shooting success is Andrew Funk. The fifth-year shot 4-of-8 from three, scoring 14 points in the loss. He’s now shooting 71-of-174 (40.8 percent) this season from three and has a great shot of finishing in the top 10 in PSU history for single-season three-point percentage and made three-pointers.
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