Penn State men’s basketball struggled to find a new rhythm after Sunday’s loss to Pitt.

The Nittany Lions drew 26 fouls, allowing the Panthers to score 15 points from the free-throw line. They also struggled with second-half turnovers. Pitt outscored Penn State in the paint and physically outperformed the Nittany Lions throughout the game.

“That physicality part, we just have to be more physical guarding the ball,” head coach Mike Rhoades said after Sunday’s loss. “Just be more physical, maybe without fouling, but more physical at the point of attack. We weren’t good enough to beat a good team, but better than it was two weeks ago.”

Penn State had similar issues against Mercyhurst Thursday night and held only a four-point lead at halftime because of it.

The Nittany Lions had 16 turnovers and shot 33% from beyond the arc against Pitt. Against the Lakers, Penn State had only nine turnovers, but Mercyhurst scored four more points off turnovers than the Nittany Lions.

While pulling away with a 15-point win, Penn State started sluggish against a Mercyhurst team with only eight available players. The second half showed promise, though, with stronger offensive ball movement from the Nittany Lions.

“I thought we were poor early, throwing the ball into the post that way, but we didn’t have bad turnovers,” Rhoades said postgame on Tuesday. “The other night, I mean, we had some turnovers where we over-dribbled, or we were fighting the defense. I thought today we picked it up and moved the ball.”

Although Penn State finished strong, it spent almost four minutes tied against a Mercyhurst team that was blown out by other power conference opponents like Louisville (71-39), Marquette (78-43), and Notre Dame (83-56).

In Penn State’s first exhibition match, it beat St. Bonaventure by three points. In its second regular-season game, it took down Chattanooga by seven.

Penn State’s struggles against programs likely getting paid to face them are difficult to ignore, especially with the Big Ten gauntlet on the horizon. That was amplified even more against Mercyhurst, where the contrast is even starker.

“I wanted to play better. It’s not about a 50-point win or something like that. I wanted to play better,” Rhoades said. “There’s an approach that you have to have when you’re a college basketball player trying to be successful, and you don’t want to have any regrets.”

One of the Nittany Lions’ biggest improvements against Mercyhurst was near the rim, scoring 36 points in the paint and grabbing two more rebounds than against Pitt.

Ivan Jurić dominated the boards, finishing with 20 points and 15 rebounds against the Lakers. The 7-foot forward recorded his fourth double-double of the season in as many games.

Jurić shot 7-for-8 from the field and 6-for-11 from the line, leading the team in both categories.

“I would just say rebounding is also a skill, so [the coaching staff] is just teaching me and showing me some ways that I can improve positioning to get more rebounds. It’s also that you have to play hard to get a lot of rebounds,” Jurić said.

The Nittany Lions also improved in shooting throughout the game.

Coming into the matchup with Mercyhurst, Penn State shot 26% from the 3-point range, but shot 55% against the Lakers. The team went 6-for-11 from deep, led by Brant Byers with three. Thomas Allard made two triples, but both players helped flip momentum offensively.

Despite Penn State taking only 11 total 3-point attempts while Rhoades has committed to shooting close to 30 a game, the efficiency shows the improvements Penn State has made in just its first few games.

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