Penn State basketball started hot and finished strong on Tuesday evening as the Nittany Lions rode four double-digit scorers and timely shotmaking to defeat DePaul 68-62.
For the second straight game freshman guard Josh Reaves started off the night with a steal and a dunk in an opening five minute flurry of defensive stops and four forced turnovers that helped Penn State take an early 11-2 margin.
DePaul would gradually crawl back into the game despite only two players scoring from the field in the first half as Penn State cooled and the Nittany Lions entered a 1-for-11 shooting slump midway through the frame.
Nevertheless, Brandon Taylor’s three-pointer in the first half’s final seconds put Penn State up 31-25 at the break. The Nittany Lions registered six first half assists, two more than the entire game total against VMI in the season opener. Penn State also turned the ball over just four times to continue a solid early season streak of consistent ball security.
Taylor opened the second half the way he ended the first, making a long three and sparking a 19-point second half on 7-of-10 shooting and 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. The senior was diverse in his shot selection and effective all night long.
Despite Penn State going up by 10 points just three minutes into the second half, DePaul shot its way back into the game getting within three on seven occasions in the game’s final 15:39 of play.
It was over the span of those final 15 minutes that Penn State started to show what it brings to the table. Weapons across the roster capable of turning small margins into more comfortable leads. DePaul would never get closer than three points for the rest of the game as the Nittany Lions responded to each punch with one of their own. Shep Garner and Brandon Taylor both hitting threes on back to back possessions in the final 1:29 of regulation.
“Now you have choices,” said Penn State coach Patrick Chambers, “Not going to say I didn’t have choices last year. We went to Taylor a few times, he came through. He kicks out to Shep, he came through. We went to Josh, he hits a floater, made some free throws at the end.”
“We stayed committed,” Chambers said. “Every set we ran in the last four minutes we’ve been running for the last three days.
“They just felt comfortable making those decisions.”
By the game’s end Penn State had four players in double figures with Taylor’s 22 leading the way. Garner added 16 on the night while Reaves and Payton Banks both scored 10. Julian Moore was a solid presence on the glass with eight rebounds, four on the offensive end of the floor.
While the Nittany Lions will have to prove their worth against bigger and better teams, the ability to close out games with big shots and defensive stops is a lesson and skill best learned early in the year.
And with young players and new guys in new roles, there was no guarantee it would happen Tuesday.
But it did and the Nittany Lions are 2-0.
