Penn State BB: Nittany Lions Return Home with Momentum

I think it’s safe to say that the Penn State Nittany Lion hoops team (10-4, 2-0) is on quite a roll right now.

Head Coach Ed DeChellis’ squad has transformed from a team that hit rock bottom a year ago to a team with a plethora of depth that has a shot to contend in a solid conference.

Sunday afternoon’s victory in a hostile environment in Champaign is something that fans in Happy Valley have not seen in nearly two years—a quality road win.

Wait...let’s backtrack for a moment.

Going into last Wednesday’s Big Ten Opener at the Welsh-Ryan Arena at Northwestern University, the PSU basketball team hadn’t won a single game away from the Bryce Jordan Center since February of 2006.

Now the team is riding a seven-game win streak since their tough loss in Philadelphia in early December, which dropped them to 3-4.

Regardless of the fact that both Big Ten road wins came against anything-but-stellar teams in the Huskies and the struggling Illini, the Lions’ 10-4 record and undefeated mark thus far, both in conference play and at home, show that the team has improved tremendously from the start of the season, giving Nittany Nation a ray of hope with two huge Big Ten home contests rapidly approaching.

However, before this team can really take the money and run, I’d like to address a few things that, unless over-emphasized by the coaching staff, will continue to plague the team this season:

Poor free throw shooting (especially down the stretch) and unsatisfactory execution on second chance opportunities. These are two things that a team cannot do in order to consistently win close games in a top-tier conference like the Big Ten.

Which brings me to refer to one of my most vivid memories of the young season—dare I mention it—the venture to the Old Spice Classic in Disney World on Thanksgiving weekend.

Going into the season, a look at Penn State roster would leave any Nittany Lion fanatic knowing that the team is relatively undersized in terms of height. The starting frontcourt is home to two outstanding veteran forwards—senior Geary Claxton, a member of the pre-season All Big-10 First team, and junior standout, Jamelle Cornley.

While the 6'5" Claxton is the most advertised star in recent PSU basketball memory, Cornley, despite his outstanding work ethic and dominance in the paint, is only listed at 6'5" as well at the power forward position. Their tallest player is senior center Brandon Hassell—listed at 6'11"—with decent scoring ability, but a lack of defensive prowess.

The depth of the team was uncertain early in the season, leaving fans to wonder how they would fare in the tough games against teams with height advantages, especially after seeing the team struggle mightily a year ago in rugged Big Ten matchups.

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