Penn State Hoops downs Wagner in blowout fashion
After a buzzing crowd with an exciting finish against Ohio State on Sunday, Penn State didn’t quite have the same conditions on Wednesday night against Wagner.
A slim Bryce Jordan Center crowd witnessed a slow start for the eight-point favorite Nittany Lions. They struggled to get through a Wagner press and 2-3 zone, but the Seahawks didn’t fare much better themselves.
A low-scoring affair for both sides in the first half, marred by a combined 20 turnovers, led Penn State to a relatively unimpressive 5-point lead at the break.
Micah Shrewsberry’s group found its spark in the second half however, and rode a dominant stretch with some much better offense to grab a large lead.
Penn State finished strongly against Wagner, bouncing back from the Ohio State loss in blowout fashion 74-54.
Disjointed offense
While the Nittany Lions have struggled to consistently produce on the offensive end already this year, Wagner played an aggressive defense and kept production at a minimum for most of the night again.
Through the first half, nearly all of Penn State’s offense ran through John Harrar and Jalen Pickett.
Both teams shot under 43% from the floor in the first half, and they combined for 20 total turnovers through the first 20 minutes.
Wagner brought a full court press for much of the night, Penn State really struggled to break it at times. The Seahawks also had a strong 2-3 zone defense that gave the Nittany Lions fits in the half court.
Things opened up in the second half for the Nittany Lions, but it wasn’t without a good stretch of struggles, including 17 turnovers on the night.
Eventually, the blue and white got four scorers in double figures, highlighted by Jalen Pickett and Sam Sessoms’ 16. Sessoms’ ability to work the ball inside off the dribble opened things up big time for the Nittany Lions.
Sessoms off the bench
For the first time this season, Sessoms was left out of Shrewsberry’s starting lineup.
The second-leading scorer has been a pivotal part of the Penn State offense this season. He was also interestingly left off the court for much of crunch time against the Buckeyes on Sunday.
However, Sessoms provided a huge spark for the Nittany Lions off the bench against Wagner.
He finished with 16 points, tied for the team high, and he dished out a tied-for-game-high five assists. A couple of highlight-reel alley-oops to Jalanni White came off of Sessoms passes, too.
Second-half team?
After really struggling with turnovers and taking just a five-point lead into halftime, Penn State seemed to figure it out in the latter half.
Fueled by a 24-6 run, the Nittany Lions cruised all the way to the finish line. They did the same thing against Ohio State, but they couldn’t complete the comeback after falling behind early.
Shrewsberry has continuously reiterated his goal of playing a full 40 minutes, but that once again didn’t happen against Wagner.
Penn State controlled the pace of the game a lot better in the second half, shooting a much better percentage and turning it over a bit less egregiously.
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