Penn State men’s basketball (4-3) lost to VCU (4-3) 86-74 in the seventh-place match in the ESPN Events Invitational. Former VCU head coach and current Penn State head coach Mike Rhoades won/lost his first game against his former team, after he left the Rams for Happy Valley in the last offseason.

The Nittany Lions’ loss was their third in a row after they fell to No. 12 Texas A&M and Butler earlier in the tournament. An injury to Kanye Clary hampered the team’s offense, as Ace Baldwin Jr. was unable to carry the Nittany Lions to a win.

How It Happened

VCU won the opening tip of the game but missed their first shot. Ace Baldwin Jr. missed his jumper on the other end of the court, but Zed Jackson of VCU nailed the first shot of the game. A moment later, Michael Belle nailed a second-chance jumper to double VCU’s lead. It wasn’t until two minutes into the game that the Nittany Lions drew first blood when Qudus Wahab knocked down a layup.

Jackson continued to knock down shots for VCU, as he earned a steal off Wahab and turned it into a two-point jumper before drawing a foul from Clary and knocking down a free throw to make the score 7-2. Baldwin had the opportunity to bring the game closer four minutes into the game but missed two free throws. It was at this point that Clary left the game with an arm injury and would not return.

A minute and a media timeout later, both teams traded points, as Baldwin scored on a layup before Penn State got the ball back on a shot clock violation on the Rams. D’Marco Dunn knocked down two three-point shots on consecutive plays to give Penn State a 10-9 lead with 13 minutes left in the first half.

The two sides traded blows for the next few minutes. Baldwin continued to lead the way for Penn State’s offense while Puff Johnson provided some assistance, but the Nittany Lions’ 50% shooting from the free throw line through 10 minutes held them back. It wasn’t until Baldwin and Nick Kern Jr., the two former Rams, knocked down their free throws that the Penn State offense seemed to find some consistency at the line.

Both sides stayed even through the second media timeout with under eight minutes left, as they were tied with 21 points each. While it looked like VCU was ready to pull away with 26 points to Penn State’s 23, Wahab knocked down two free throws to keep the game close. However, a deep three from Alphonzo Billups III increased the Rams’ lead before Max Shugla’s two free throws gave them a 31-25 advantage.

Dunn came through in a big way again for the Nittany Lions, hitting a three-point shot to bring the game to a 33-30 scoreline. Leo O’Boyle converted his two attempts from the line to bring the score to 33-32 before the media timeout with under four minutes left in the first half.

In less than a minute, VCU started to run away with the score. The Rams put up eight points in just over a minute while Penn State hesitated to respond. Two air balls in the final minute of play hurt the Nittany Lions, though three points gave them a late push, and VCU entered the break with a 46-40 lead.

Baldwin started off the scoring in the second half, draining a three-point shot early and dropping in a layup from his own steal seconds later. After both teams traded blows, Wahab brought the game to one point with his efforts from the line, as the Nittany Lions trailed just 48-47 with 16 minutes left. A minute later, Wahab gave Penn State a 49-48 lead with a layup.

Both sides went back and forth for a few points, tied at 55 points after another two minutes. Seconds later, they were tied at 57 points. Then, VCU finally got the upper hand, taking a two-point lead before forcing a turnover from Penn State just before a media timeout.

The Rams increased their lead, forcing Penn State to mount a comeback. Baldwin and Wahab led the way for the Nittany Lions, but Rhoades was forced to call a timeout after a big three-point shot from the Rams gave them a 72-64 lead with under six minutes left.

The timeout didn’t help much, as VCU exploded with a steal and score right after the break. Another three-pointer from Jackson increased the Rams’ lead to 77-64 with four minutes left.

After another break, the Rams kept pushing. With under four minutes left, VCU held an 80-66 as it increasingly seemed that it was just trying to close out the game. The duration of the game was relatively a low-scoring affair, as VCU held on for its 86-74 win.

Takeaways

• Penn State needs to find someone to get the scoring going early not named Baldwin. The former Ram seemed to be the only player shooting for the Nittany Lions early on, and he didn’t look great. Losing Clary obviously hurt, but Penn State needs other options.
• The Nittany Lions have struggled to close out games during the tournament. Penn State was able to challenge each of its last three opponents, but just kept coming up short.
• As always, Penn State’s defeat was a story of the rebounds. The Nittany Lions gave up too many second-chance points and were out-rebounded 36-29. Wahab is doing all he can, but he needs more help from his teammates to put a good effort together on defense.

What’s Next?

Penn State will return home to face Bucknell at noon Saturday, December 2, at the Bryce Jordan Center. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.