Penn State

[Hungry Jack]

The Lions are #6 in the nation in scoring at 88 ppg. They have played at easy non-con schedule against schools like Maryland-Baltimore County, Buffalo, Coppin St., and Binghamton. They blitzed Purdue, but lost by 12 to Clemson and by 4 to Rutgers. They are not Goliath by any stretch.

The story of the Purdue game was 24 turnovers produced by the press. Purdue actually outshot the Lions, but the turnovers and a big advantage at the FT line (32-19) gave PSU an easy win. PSU had less luck turning over Rutgers (14), and saw Rutgers hold the huge advantage in FT (25-9).

I think we have a real shot. PSU is long and athletic (as evidenced by the press), but they are not a great 3 point shooting team (35.8%). They shoot much better inside (58%) thanks to guys like G Nick Kern, G Puff Johnson and F/C Yanic Niederhauser. G Zach Hicks is their only guy getting more than 10 mpg shooting over 40% from 3.

Ace Baldwin is the catalyst on offense, averaging 8.6 assists (and 3.6 turnovers). He only shoots 40% overall. He was held in check by Clemson (20 pts on 14 shots with 5 tov) and Rutgers (8 pts, 3 tov), and did most of his damage vs. Purdue at the FT line (12/12).

I am hoping Mullins spends a lot of time defending Baldwin. I think that would slow down his dribble-penetration. Niederhauser mostly works inside, and Big Matt can handle him, leaving Brooks, Ty and Nick to handle those long wings.

I think Nick is due for a big game.

 

[EagerFan]

Yeah, I suspect this past week has seen a lot of practice breaking the press and I hope it shows up for us.

 

[Cataria]

Yeah, I suspect this past week has seen a lot of practice breaking the press and I hope it shows up for us.

Mullins has looked pretty good in the press break so if Ty's loose handles show up, he should sub for him.

 

[Skunkpilot]

Mullins has looked pretty good in the press break so if Ty's loose handles show up, he should sub for him.

Why doesn’t Collin’s ever press??

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Why doesn’t Collin’s ever press??

We only play 7 guys. Hard to have Nolan Richardson’s 40 minutes of hell with a short rotation.

 

[NJCat]

We only play 7 guys. Hard to have Nolan Richardson’s 40 minutes of hell with a short rotation.

This. Plus, the half court defense is lock down and creates turnovers, don't need to expend extra effort pressing.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Not sure Mullins can handle Baldwin... but the thing to worry about it Baldwin taking the ball from our primary ballhandler, whomever it may be.

That Pratt kid on Northeastern (#3) was able to beat Mullins off the dribble and get to the glass and score at least twice. In fact we couldn't defend him without help.

Kern is a good 6'6" player for PSU.

We may run into foul trouble since both teams go inside for most of their shots.

 

[Figrating]

Peacock lucks out hijacking a game that everyone wants to see, unlike the Northeastern game.

 

[No Chores]

Yeah, I suspect this past week has seen a lot of practice breaking the press and I hope it shows up for us.

Well, the good news is that if we are effective at breaking the press it often leads to easy baskets.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Not sure Mullins can handle Baldwin... but the thing to worry about it Baldwin taking the ball from our primary ballhandler, whomever it may be.

That Pratt kid on Northeastern (#3) was able to beat Mullins off the dribble and get to the glass and score at least twice. In fact we couldn't defend him without help.

Kern is a good 6'6" player for PSU.

We may run into foul trouble since both teams go inside for most of their shots.

Fun Fact about LA Pratt (love the name): He would have been a teammate of Nick Martinelli at Elon had the Cats not swooped in late.

 

[BosCat]

Peacock lucks out hijacking a game that everyone wants to see, unlike the Northeastern game.

 

[EagerFan]

Well, the good news is that if we are effective at breaking the press it often leads to easy baskets.

I feel like we haven't really done that much this year tho, even against the teams that press really hard we've not tried to make them pay more than a handful of times that I've seen. That's really the best way to break the press imho, score a quick basket every time they try it.

 

[wocka]

Line opened PSU -5.5, already down to -4.5 👀

 

[Skunkpilot]

They play in a 15,000 seat arena. Hopefully it’s empty and we can steal a road W.

 

[Baz=Heisman]

Have to at least split this week 🙏

 

[TheC]

Have to at least split this week 🙏

Neither game is must-win. I think if we split the week, we will be feeling really good.

 

[Jonny2TheP]

Neither game is must-win. I think if we split the week, we will be feeling really good.

Neither game at this point is a must win, I agree, but I think getting one is a little more necessary than a nice to have. Losing that Iowa game took away what would have been a nice road win and put us a little bit behind the eight ball. We will have plenty of chances for good wins, so nothing is "have to have" on January 2nd, but the pressure goes up on future road games if we can't get one of these.

I am one that thinks that road wins carry some clout come selection time. It's not everything of course, but it is a variable the committee looks at. A team that shows it can win on the road is a little more appealing than one that shows they can just do it in their own building. Getting a few nice road wins (each of these would fall into that category) would be a nice resume builder.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

My computer algorithm is telling me PSU 72 NU 68...
Torvik says PSU 73 NU 70

NU has played a few games without Barnhizer, so we're better than our rating....
So I'll go NU 71 PSU 70

But the little voice in my head is laughing "You know its a bad matchup! Don't be such a homer..."

 

[Davidgolds5]

A win would be fantastic. Looking af the schedule, we have five quad one games in a row. A win tonight would be a great way to start them, we can’t depend on winning 9 or 10 games at home again given the tough schedule this year. Perhaps 4-6 on the road and 7-3 at home would be the way this year.

 

[SimpsonElmwood]

Arena is usually a mausoleum and tonight is going to be more empty than usual. Cats can take them.

 

[PurpWildCatNation]

First game I've been really amped for this year so I'm sure it will be a classic cardiac cat finish. This feels like a game where we find out if Ty Berry is gonna finally step up and take the pressure off Barny and Marty.

 

[lou v]

The Lions are #6 in the nation in scoring at 88 ppg. They have played at easy non-con schedule against schools like Maryland-Baltimore County, Buffalo, Coppin St., and Binghamton. They blitzed Purdue, but lost by 12 to Clemson and by 4 to Rutgers. They are not Goliath by any stretch.

The story of the Purdue game was 24 turnovers produced by the press. Purdue actually outshot the Lions, but the turnovers and a big advantage at the FT line (32-19) gave PSU an easy win. PSU had less luck turning over Rutgers (14), and saw Rutgers hold the huge advantage in FT (25-9).

I think we have a real shot. PSU is long and athletic (as evidenced by the press), but they are not a great 3 point shooting team (35.8%). They shoot much better inside (58%) thanks to guys like G Nick Kern, G Puff Johnson and F/C Yanic Niederhauser. G Zach Hicks is their only guy getting more than 10 mpg shooting over 40% from 3.

Ace Baldwin is the catalyst on offense, averaging 8.6 assists (and 3.6 turnovers). He only shoots 40% overall. He was held in check by Clemson (20 pts on 14 shots with 5 tov) and Rutgers (8 pts, 3 tov), and did most of his damage vs. Purdue at the FT line (12/12).

I am hoping Mullins spends a lot of time defending Baldwin. I think that would slow down his dribble-penetration. Niederhauser mostly works inside, and Big Matt can handle him, leaving Brooks, Ty and Nick to handle those long wings.

I think Nick is due for a big game.

I think tempo is going to be very important tonight. Penn State is one of the Top 10 scoring teams in the country. They're going to want to push the pace, and I'm sure they will use the press at points in the game. NU, on the other hand, ranks 208th in scoring and will want to slow things down.

Lots of opposites in this game. Penn State has five guys who average in double figures, while NU is the only team in the country with two guys averaging 20 points. Martinelli and Barnhizer together account for more than half of NU's points per game.

 

[EagerFan]

Coach will most likely have to call a few time outs in the first half to tell the guys to slow down and settle into their offense. But I suppose that depends on how the scoring goes.

 

[hdhntr1]

Why doesn’t Collin’s ever press??

We really don't have the depth only going 7 deep. Takes a lot of energy and fouls can go both ways Plus don't have enough guys that are quick enough. And we are pretty good getting TOs in half court

 

[hdhntr1]

Not sure Mullins can handle Baldwin... but the thing to worry about it Baldwin taking the ball from our primary ballhandler, whomever it may be.

That Pratt kid on Northeastern (#3) was able to beat Mullins off the dribble and get to the glass and score at least twice. In fact we couldn't defend him without help.

Kern is a good 6'6" player for PSU.

We may run into foul trouble since both teams go inside for most of their shots.

Plus Mullins tends to get a lot of fouls called on him

 

[hdhntr1]

I feel like we haven't really done that much this year tho, even against the teams that press really hard we've not tried to make them pay more than a handful of times that I've seen. That's really the best way to break the press imho, score a quick basket every time they try it.

The coaches tend to want them playing under control. Go too fast and whole game breaks down for them

 

[hdhntr1]

My computer algorithm is telling me PSU 72 NU 68...
Torvik says PSU 73 NU 70

NU has played a few games without Barnhizer, so we're better than our rating....
So I'll go NU 71 PSU 70

But the little voice in my head is laughing "You know its a bad matchup! Don't be such a homer..."

But it is a road game