Penn State took off to Florida this weekend for the annual Emerald Coast Classic tournament, and it faced off with LSU in the first semifinal.
After coming in as eight-point underdogs, the Nittany Lions got off to a hot start behind a pair of threes from Myles Dread and Jalen Pickett.
Penn State controlled the pace of the game early on, but LSU continually tried to speed the game up with high-tempo offense and a 1-3-1 press defensively.
The blue and white withstood a short run from the Tigers midway through the first half and found an offensive spark once again to retake the lead. Despite turning the ball over six times in the first 20 minutes, Penn State entered the break with a 29-26 lead while holding LSU to 28% shooting.
The Nittany Lions let the tight lead through the first part of the second half, but LSU capitalized on some offensive struggles from Penn State to grab a lead around the 12-minute mark.
LSU didn’t go away, though, and a 7-0 run pushed the Tigers to a lead. A massive 3-pointer from Penn State’s Jaheam Cornwall knotted it back up, but LSU held on for most of the way.
Sam Sessoms did his best to bring Penn State back, scoring on straight possessions in crunch time to give Penn State a chance.
A late turnover with the shot clock off gave Penn State the last chance to win or tie, and a wild sequence with a wild inbound pass, a wild shot by Dread and a putback with .1 seconds by Seth Lundy tied the game to send it to overtime.
LSU jumped out to an early lead in the extra period, but Penn State once again had a last look at scoring to close it out.
Controlling the tempo
LSU came into this one averaging 13.8 steals per game, while Penn State turned it over 13.5 times per game. The Nittany Lions struggled with the Tigers’ press at times, but a major key to the game was avoiding sloppy turnovers.
Penn State made a point to slow down and work deep into the shot clock, avoiding hurried shots that would’ve allowed LSU to play at a high tempo it wanted. It worked in the blue and white’s favor for much of the night, especially en route to its first-half lead.
Micah Shrewsberry’s team ended the night with 15 turnovers still, but it was a much more consistent effort offensively than we’ve seen all season.
Defense strong despite rebounding struggles
While Penn State had a stronger offensive performance against a solid defensive team Friday night, the defense may have been the highlight of the night.
LSU consistently held a rebounding advantage over Penn State, coming up with 12 offensive rebounds in the first half alone. The Tigers ended the night with a 42-35 rebounding advantage over Penn State.
In the first half, Penn State held LSU to 28% shooting despite the rebounding advantage. By the end of the night, LSU had shot just 35% from the floor.
The Tigers finished the night with 17 offensive boards and 15 second chance points, but Penn State’s defensive performance was by far its best of the season.
Sam Sessoms takes over
Sessoms was having his worst game of the season against LSU before it came down to crunch time.
The former Binghamton transfer and current Penn State leading scorer turned it on when it mattered most, scoring a pair of tough buckets in the paint and hitting a huge 3-pointer to take the lead back with under two minutes to go.
Sessoms hit another tough bucket at the rim in overtime after LSU took a four-point lead.
He finished with 13 points, but his impact went way beyond numbers, too.
Sessoms was the most consistent Nittany Lion against LSU’s press. When he was off the floor, the Penn State offense was much more stagnant.
Jalen Pickett overcame his slow start to the season, too, to help out the quiet night from Lundy. Lundy grabbed some big points late, but he still had a rough night shooting overall.
Pickett found his stroke from deep, hitting four of eight to help him to his 14 points on the night, which was good second highest in the game. Dread had a season high as well with 11, including some clutch 3-pointers throughout the game.
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