Penn State Basketball: Shooting Shines, but Interior Struggles in Loss to No. 18 Illinois

If you were going to make a list of Penn State basketball’s strengths and weaknesses before the season ever began, you would have seen both of those things on display Wednesday night as the Nittany Lions fell 98-81 to No. 18 Illinois.

The strengths: Penn State is not without shooting depth. Myreon Jones poured in 11 quick points out of the gate en route to 21 while counterpart Izaiah Brockington followed along with 21 to his own credit. By the end of the night the Nittany Lions had managed to shoot 53.8% from the floor while spending much of the game shooting at or above 60%.

It was never a matter of scoring, if one player was cold, another would fill in his place with timely makes from beyond the arc and in the paint. In turn Penn State’s very early 19-4 lead exemplified the kind of scoring the Nittany Lions can get at their best: fast, athletic and balanced.

But as Illinois already knew, Penn State’s interior defense lacks. It’s not through any fault of John Harrar and Trent Buttrick. Both have put together admirable efforts so far this season, but neither have the size or athleticism of their predecessor Mike Watkins and to a certain extent their do-it-all former teammate Lamar Stevens.

The Illini, on the other hand, are well equipped to handle both fronts. In the scoring-from-everywhere department, future lottery pick Ayo Dosunmu poured in 30 points as Illinois turned an early deficit into a 43-43 halftime score. For all the firepower the Nittany Lions possess, none of their scorers resemble Dosunmu for a full 40 minutes of play.

And in the paint it’s Kofi Cockburn, who went 11-for-13 from the field for 23 points in an effort that could only be described as bullying. The Illini finished the night +11 on the glass picking up 14 offensive rebounds for 21 second chance points. A whopping 58 points in the paint underlined an understanding of Penn State’s weaknesses and no matter how well the Nittany Lions shot, they had little in the way of an answer defensively down low.

In turn the game was close in the second half but never close enough. Penn State hung around in single-digits most of the way before a late barrage by Dosunmu finished off the night. The paint dominance of Illinois also led to a 28-7 advantage at the free throw line.

All told there’s something to be said for a game that went more or less as expected. Penn State hung around because it has the talent to do so, but lost because it’s not quite a complete enough team against opponents that can make the most of the Nittany Lions’ biggest weakness. 

The good news for Penn State is that aside from Iowa and National Player of the Year candidate Luka Garza, few teams have a player quite as imposing as Cockburn and even fewer have the killer shotmaking ability of Dosunmu.

The bad new for the Nittany Lions is that their weaknesses don’t look to be changing any time soon in a league full to the brim with talented and more complete teams.