Penn State men’s basketball lost to No. 1 Purdue 76-63 on Sunday night at the Palestra in Philadelphia in the sort of game that exemplified the differences between the truly elite in college basketball and everyone else.
Because in many ways Penn State didn’t play all that poorly against the Boilermakers, especially in a first half that saw the Nittany Lions take a 37-31 lead into the break. It was Jalen Pickett doing what he does best in the first half — scoring in the interior — and then what he doesn’t do often — scoring from beyond the arc for 18 of his 26 points. Around him Seth Lundy added 10 points to his season total as others chipped in here or there. If Penn State was going to pull off the upset it was going to need to play the same kind of basketball it had played in the previous 15 games, and in the first half on Sunday it did exactly that.
But it was the second half that truly showcased Purdue’s elite standing, anchored by the notoriously tall Zach Edey, a 7-4 mammoth of a human whose base skillset includes things like simply placing the ball in the basket. His 30-point and 13-rebound night felt like a walk in the park against a Penn State team lacking size. Then again, turn on a Purdue game any given night and Edey is doing this sort of thing to nearly everyone, exactly why he averages just over 20 points and 13 rebounds per game. For all of the “what if?” losses Penn State basketball has suffered over the years, with the Nittany Lions losing to a team that features a giant standing next to the basket, it’s harder to pin this one on much more than losing a genetics battle.
Then again, even as Purdue went on a 12-0 run to open the second half and outscored the Nittany Lions 45-26 in the second half, the Nittany Lions generally hung around. It wasn’t until there were seven minutes to go that the Boilermakers led by 16, and while 16 points is a far cry from a close game, Penn State itself once trailed No. 4 Michigan by 15 with just over 10 minutes to play in that 2013 upset victory. It ain’t over until it’s over.
But as Penn State shot just 2-for-10 from beyond the arc in the second half and relied on Pickett’s ability to make something out of nothing, the missed threes and lacking midrange game did little to spark a comeback attempt. In that Penn State will find some disappointment. There’s only so much you can do about the likes of Edey skulking around in the paint — there’s only so much anyone can do — but as Penn State missed shots and Purdue made five timely threes from beyond the arc in the second half, it showcased the differences between good and elite.
Because make no mistake, at 11-5 on the year and otherwise capable of playing good basketball at the just-about midway point of the year, Penn State isn’t bad. They just aren’t No. 1 team in the country material, and in the hierarchy of Penn State men’s basketball games that went more or less as expected, it counts for something that the Nittany Lions took on the No. 1 team in the country and didn’t look out of place.
The gap, or rather closing it, is complicated. It’s talent, it’s a bit of luck, and it’s consistency. Penn State showed in the first half the sort of team it can be, it also showed in the second half why the difference between great teams and good ones isn’t as much the actual talent players have but the ability to access it on a regular basis or when it is needed to most.
Penn State is on the road to face Indiana and Wisconsin next, hardly a welcoming stretch of games, but the Nittany Lions will make those trips knowing they can shoot better than they did on Sunday and that at worst they will only see Edey twice more this season.
