| Player | Minutes | NU Pts | PSU Pts | Raw +/- | Player Adjust | Net +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buie | 40 | 62 | 61 | +1 | +2.9 | +3.9 |
| Martinelli | 8 | 13 | 7 | +6 | -3.8 | +2.2 |
| Verhoeven | 29 | 41 | 44 | -3 | +4.5 | +1.5 |
| Barnhizer | 34 | 42 | 49 | -7 | +7.9 | +0.9 |
| Nicholson | 10 | 13 | 15 | -2 | -0.3 | -2.3 |
| Berry | 37 | 55 | 57 | -2 | -3.2 | -5.2 |
| Audige | 42 | 62 | 63 | -1 | -6.0 | -7.0 |
| Beran | 25 | 37 | 44 | -7 | -2.0 | -9.0 |
Sorry it took longer than usual to get these numbers out.
As always, the lineups we deployed had a significant impact on the outcome.
It was a big game for us, coming off 2 bad losses, an opportunity to grab 2nd place alone and finish 13-7 in the league.
Our opponent was unusual, in that Penn State doesn't have a Big Ten calibre center or height at the power forward position.
Barnhizer and Buie did their part. Brooks has established himself as our #2 scorer. In our last 8 games, he has converted 30 of 60 field goal attempts, including an impressive 13 of 23 from outside the arc.
Buie was excellent again, making 9 of 22 field goal attempts, with 8 assists, 3 steals, 4 rebounds and only 1 turnover.
Once again, Chase Audige played heavy minutes and his "Player Adjustment" of -6.0 tells us that his teammates played better.
Tydus Verhoeven played a solid game, using his size advantage to grab 5 rebounds and block 2 shots in a season high 29+ minutes. Unfortunately, he only scored 4 points, as we made no effort to get the ball into the low post. Strategically this made no sense. Nicholson got 2 touches, both on offensive rebounds, but missed the putbacks. Verhoeven got 1 pass from Buie on a pick and roll and scored. We attempted 29 three pointers, our fourth highest total against the Big Ten this season. We attempted 6 free throws, a season low. We scored fewer points than we attempted field goals (4th time this season - all losses)
The heavy use of Verhoeven was odd. Coming into the PSU game, the Cats had outscored our opponents by 5% when Nicholson was in the game. When Verhoeven was on the court, we had been outscored by just over 5%. In a 60 point game, thats a 6 point swing.
The starters didn''t play great - two 5-5 segments to open the halves, but it remains difficult to understand why our best lineup would only play 6 minutes out of 45.
Martinelli played about 8 1/2 minutes, all with Verhoeven and Barnhizer. That frontcourt had been notably effective when used in prior games and produced a 13-7 win against PSU, including a segment that turned a 37-33 deficit into a 43-42 lead with 10:37 to go.
When Robbie Beran, Barnhizer and Verhoeven were on the court together, we got outscored 11-0 in under 3 minutes. However, when Collins put Beran at the 5 with Barnhizer and the 3 guards, that group stretched a 45-43 lead into a 56-52 lead with 5:13 to go in regulation. Collins then went "all in" with Verhoeven, subbing him in for Beran. We scored 5 points in 5 minutes, allowed 9 and escaped into overtime. Unfortunately, Collins doubled down with the same group in OT, we got outscored 7-4 and lost. I can't recall Collins ever using one group of 5 players for that long.
