Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Penn State In Review
1/17/2016 11:13:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
It was over now, and the 'Cats had fallen to Penn State by nine, and the traditional post-game ritual was unfolding. "We made shots and you missed them," Nittany Lion coach Pat Chambers said as he shook Chris Collins' hand.
"Sometimes in this league, in this bizarre league that we're in, that determines the outcome," he would later avow.
"Sometimes," agreed Collins, "it's a make-or-miss game."
••••••••••
'Cat forward Aaron Falzon missed a three from the right side just 16 seconds into their Saturday night game with Penn State at Welsh-Ryan, and 28 seconds later Nittany Lion forward Brandon Taylor dropped one from the left corner. Already, right here, the theme of this one had been established.
Penn State had entered it hitting just 26.4 percent of its threes in Big Ten play, the worst mark in the league. But it would end this evening nine-of-21 from distance, which is a sparkling 42.9 percent. Penn State had also entered it with the league's worst three-point field goal percentage defense, allowing its conference opponents to convert 44.9 percent of its attempts. But this evening the 'Cats would miss their first 17 shots from distance; would not make one from distance until just under 30 minutes were gone; and would end just three-of-26 from distance, which is an unsightly 11.5 percent.
The key here was the Nittany Lion zone, which featured the six-foot-six Taylor and the six-foot-six Payton Banks and the 6-foot-10 Julian Moore in his first Big Ten start of the season in place of the 6-foot-6 Davis Zemgulis. That added length, Chambers would later say, helped his team "Be there and make great three-point shooters uncomfortable."
"I thought it pushed us out a little bit," Collins would say of that length. "Some of Aaron's initial threes were really deep ones. They had pushed him out. I thought we were shooting a lot of NBA threes. So I was trying to tell them (as the game unfolded) that we need to get into the operating area. We've got to drive the ball because they were extending so far. Then I thought we got some looks after that and we couldn't make those. And then, when you're at home and everyone knows you can't hit a shot, every shot becomes -- there's groaning (in the stands).
"That is what it is. I'm doing that inside too. You're trying to have someone, something ignite you to get you going, and we just weren't able to do that until it was too late."
••••••••••
Taylor dropped another three at 13:37 of the first half, and now the Nittany Lions had a lead they would never again lose. It would be three again at 12:45 after a 12-foot floater by Bryant McIntosh. But then the 'Cats would miss their next seven shots and it would grow to 10. It was down to seven at halftime. But then the 'Cats would miss four straight threes to open the second half and inexorably it grew, peaking at 18 with 8:06 remaining. "I thought we got what we deserved in this game. That's all I can really think of," Collins would say to open his post-game press conference.
"I thought Penn State, to start the game, they had better energy. They were more competitive. They brought the fight to the start of the game and I thought it knocked us back a little bit. We weren't ready. We weren't ready to compete at that level. A lot's going to be made of the shooting and obviously, when you shoot so poorly, a lot should be made of the shooting. But you're not going to make shots if you don't have the right attitude to start the game. You're not going to be bailed out with making shots.
"I just never thought we were in attack mode. We weren't very aggressive. And then what happened is, when you continue to play like that, then your defense disintegrates. I thought as the game wore down, I thought our defense was OK early. But then, as we missed shot after shot and that became a focal point of where the game was headed, I thought we lost our defense and they were able to push it out to 18 points. Then we started fighting. We got down 18 with eight minutes to go and we finally started playing. Just too little too late."
••••••••••
The 'Cats were down, 54-36, when they joined the fight with a floater from Demps, who would end the night with a game-high 22. But just 15 seconds later Scottie Lindsey committed their seventh foul of the half and now began an endless parade of Nittany Lions to the foul line. They would make not a single field goal in the last eight minutes of this game. But they had entered it as the third-best free throw shooting team in the Big Ten, hitting 74.7 percent of their attempts, and now they would go 17-of-23 down the stretch, just under their average at 73.9 percent.
When Demps cut their lead to nine at 3:02, their forward Jack Donovan dropped a pair. When Dererk Pardon cut it back to nine at 2:39, their guard Devin Foster dropped a pair. When Demps cut it to seven at 39 seconds, Taylor made a pair. When Demps again cut it to seven at 27.6 seconds, their forward Banks made a pair, and then he made a final pair at eight seconds after a Falzon layup.
"I'm proud of my team for the way they competed on the road," their coach Chambers then said. "We competed for the first time all year for 40 minutes."
"I thought in the second half, we got better looks," Collins would soon conclude. "But when you're that cold...sometimes mentally, it was that kind of night. It was not a good night for us. It's a very disappointing loss."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
It was over now, and the 'Cats had fallen to Penn State by nine, and the traditional post-game ritual was unfolding. "We made shots and you missed them," Nittany Lion coach Pat Chambers said as he shook Chris Collins' hand.
"Sometimes in this league, in this bizarre league that we're in, that determines the outcome," he would later avow.
"Sometimes," agreed Collins, "it's a make-or-miss game."
••••••••••
'Cat forward Aaron Falzon missed a three from the right side just 16 seconds into their Saturday night game with Penn State at Welsh-Ryan, and 28 seconds later Nittany Lion forward Brandon Taylor dropped one from the left corner. Already, right here, the theme of this one had been established.
Penn State had entered it hitting just 26.4 percent of its threes in Big Ten play, the worst mark in the league. But it would end this evening nine-of-21 from distance, which is a sparkling 42.9 percent. Penn State had also entered it with the league's worst three-point field goal percentage defense, allowing its conference opponents to convert 44.9 percent of its attempts. But this evening the 'Cats would miss their first 17 shots from distance; would not make one from distance until just under 30 minutes were gone; and would end just three-of-26 from distance, which is an unsightly 11.5 percent.
The key here was the Nittany Lion zone, which featured the six-foot-six Taylor and the six-foot-six Payton Banks and the 6-foot-10 Julian Moore in his first Big Ten start of the season in place of the 6-foot-6 Davis Zemgulis. That added length, Chambers would later say, helped his team "Be there and make great three-point shooters uncomfortable."
"I thought it pushed us out a little bit," Collins would say of that length. "Some of Aaron's initial threes were really deep ones. They had pushed him out. I thought we were shooting a lot of NBA threes. So I was trying to tell them (as the game unfolded) that we need to get into the operating area. We've got to drive the ball because they were extending so far. Then I thought we got some looks after that and we couldn't make those. And then, when you're at home and everyone knows you can't hit a shot, every shot becomes -- there's groaning (in the stands).
"That is what it is. I'm doing that inside too. You're trying to have someone, something ignite you to get you going, and we just weren't able to do that until it was too late."
••••••••••
Taylor dropped another three at 13:37 of the first half, and now the Nittany Lions had a lead they would never again lose. It would be three again at 12:45 after a 12-foot floater by Bryant McIntosh. But then the 'Cats would miss their next seven shots and it would grow to 10. It was down to seven at halftime. But then the 'Cats would miss four straight threes to open the second half and inexorably it grew, peaking at 18 with 8:06 remaining. "I thought we got what we deserved in this game. That's all I can really think of," Collins would say to open his post-game press conference.
"I thought Penn State, to start the game, they had better energy. They were more competitive. They brought the fight to the start of the game and I thought it knocked us back a little bit. We weren't ready. We weren't ready to compete at that level. A lot's going to be made of the shooting and obviously, when you shoot so poorly, a lot should be made of the shooting. But you're not going to make shots if you don't have the right attitude to start the game. You're not going to be bailed out with making shots.
"I just never thought we were in attack mode. We weren't very aggressive. And then what happened is, when you continue to play like that, then your defense disintegrates. I thought as the game wore down, I thought our defense was OK early. But then, as we missed shot after shot and that became a focal point of where the game was headed, I thought we lost our defense and they were able to push it out to 18 points. Then we started fighting. We got down 18 with eight minutes to go and we finally started playing. Just too little too late."
••••••••••
The 'Cats were down, 54-36, when they joined the fight with a floater from Demps, who would end the night with a game-high 22. But just 15 seconds later Scottie Lindsey committed their seventh foul of the half and now began an endless parade of Nittany Lions to the foul line. They would make not a single field goal in the last eight minutes of this game. But they had entered it as the third-best free throw shooting team in the Big Ten, hitting 74.7 percent of their attempts, and now they would go 17-of-23 down the stretch, just under their average at 73.9 percent.
When Demps cut their lead to nine at 3:02, their forward Jack Donovan dropped a pair. When Dererk Pardon cut it back to nine at 2:39, their guard Devin Foster dropped a pair. When Demps cut it to seven at 39 seconds, Taylor made a pair. When Demps again cut it to seven at 27.6 seconds, their forward Banks made a pair, and then he made a final pair at eight seconds after a Falzon layup.
"I'm proud of my team for the way they competed on the road," their coach Chambers then said. "We competed for the first time all year for 40 minutes."
"I thought in the second half, we got better looks," Collins would soon conclude. "But when you're that cold...sometimes mentally, it was that kind of night. It was not a good night for us. It's a very disappointing loss."
••••••
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