PSU Hoops' poor defense taints final home game in blowout loss to Nebraska
In a span of 48 hours, Penn State went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.
The Nittany Lions toppled Northwestern in comeback fashion on Friday to complete a season sweep of the Wildcats, on Senior Night no less. Fifth-year senior John Harrar pulled down a career-high 20 rebounds in his second-to-last game at the Bryce Jordan Center, and sophomore Dallion Johnson led the team with a career-high 15 points.
As the team’s undoubted leader, Harrar’s 20 rebounds were a fitting benchmark for Senior Night. Having a sophomore lead the team in points is a bit more ironic.
However, Johnson’s development culminating in the Senior Night win is a microcosm of the Penn State season in coach Micah Shrewsberry’s first year.
The Nittany Lion roster has Harrar, who has been here and been the backbone of the team for five years, a couple of veterans like Seth Lundy and Myles Dread, some veteran transfers in their first year like Jalen Pickett, and young guys like Johnson and Caleb Dorsey.
Shrewsberry labeled Johnson as a freshman because he didn’t get a chance to play much last year. Johnson was tasked all year with earning his playing time. He logged a number of games where he didn’t see the floor.
While his 15-point, five 3-pointer outburst was by far his best performance of the year, Johnson had already solidified himself into the starting lineup, increasing his usage in the late stages of the campaign.
Now, the fifth-year senior who has been the definition of Penn State basketball had 20 rebounds on senior night, and the sophomore who had to work his way to the top led the team in points.
It wasn’t an accident, either.
“[Johnson’s] one of our hardest workers. He's a guy that when he wasn't playing at all, he goes right into the practice gym to get shots up every single game afterward, while John's in the weight room lifting,” Shrewsberry said after the game Friday. “But he sees that. He sees what John's work ethic has done for him. And now that pays off for Dallion.
“John's not gonna be here next year. But he set our team up, he set this program up in terms of what hard work looks like. And now Dallion can carry that on. He's seen it. Now he's doing it. Now the five freshmen that come in next year, they're watching Dallion.”
Expectations weren’t high for Shrewsberry’s first year. He inherited a decimated roster and built it back up through the transfer portal with players who had scarcely seen anything close to Big Ten basketball. To have the roots of a culture start to ingrain themselves like they had in Harrar and Johnson should be considered an absolute success.
Harrar said before Senior Night that he planned to spend 16 hours in the BJC. After the game, he said he was roughly on hour 13.
Forty-four hours or so after he assumedly left his longtime home arena, he was back to defend the court one more time. But the high note of Senior Night fizzled out immediately after tipoff against Nebraska on Sunday.
Penn State was outmatched from the start against the last-place Cornhuskers, who were 1-16 in conference play before wiping the floor with the Nittany Lions, 93-70, in their final home game of the 2021-22 campaign — and the final home game of Harrar’s career.
After riding the high of the Senior Night comeback win and failing to defend the BJC one last time, all senior guard Myles Dread could say was that it “hurts.”
Penn State’s defense has been a hallmark for much of the season, holding nearly every conference opponent well below their season averages in scoring.
Nebraska’s 58.2% from the floor and 65% from deep were significantly above the Cornhuskers’ season averages, but the Nittany Lions’ defensive rotations and close outs were poor. The red and white won the 50-50 balls and simply had more energy ever since the tip.
“We were just a step behind the entire time,” Shrewsberry said Sunday. “They were playing at a faster pace than we were defensively. When you start the possession like that, you get behind, and then anything can happen. It snowballs.”
Shrewsberry has quickly earned a reputation for being relatively soft-spoken and in high spirits off the court, but he’s a much different animal — a self-proclaimed “tasmanian devil” — during a game.
His yells were audible in the rafters of the BJC for the first 20+ minutes of the game Sunday before he went quiet and stood solemnly with his arms crossed for the majority of the second half.
“At some point in time, what is there to say? We were getting our ass kicked. If I was yelling, if I was quiet — we were getting our ass kicked,” Shrewsberry said. “I did a poor job today. We got our ass kicked because of me.”
The lead changed hands just twice. Nebraska’s largest lead was 32 points, and the Cornhuskers controlled the lead for 36 minutes and 27 seconds of a 40-minute game.
Even Harrar’s performance was uncharacteristically bad. He was far from dominant inside despite not being out-sized by Nebraska and scored nine points with eight rebounds and four turnovers, breaking a streak of four straight double-doubles.
Despite the pain of the loss, Shrewsberry put Harrar back on the floor with roughly a minute and a half remaining. He pulled down one more rebound before walking back off the floor with tears in his eyes, hugging coaches and teammates as a standing ovation and “Thank you, John” filled the BJC.
“I'm just disappointed that we didn't play the right way for him. His last opportunity to play here. That hurts more than the loss,” Shrewsberry said. “For a guy that puts everything he has into it, that cares so much - for this to be his last game here, that's what I'm hurt about. That's what's sad. This guy's given his all for five years, and this is how he gets rewarded.”
Shrewsberry took full responsibility for the loss. It’s an unceremonious end to the home slate for the Nittany Lions, but they’ll have to accept it and move forward with two more road games and the Big Ten Tournament still ahead.
“You get what you deserve,” Shrewsberry said. “We gotta sit in this for a little bit, and I'll be better next time we play.”
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