Penn State was spanked soundly and sent straight to bed, 85-47 by No. 2 Kentucky at the Hall of Fame Tip-off Tournament on Saturday afternoon. Here's the good, the bad and the ugly for the Nittany Lions.
The Good
-While most of his teammates wilted under the pressure of facing a top-5 team, Ross Travis showed he can play with the big boys, posting a 10-point, 8-rebound line for the afternoon. His motor has been impressive all season, and while he'll likely have ups and downs as most freshmen do, he showed he has a lot of room to develop today.
-Jonathan Graham's contributions were modest, six points on 3-6 shooting with five rebounds, but while most of his teammates struggled, he managed to have an efficient afternoon.
-Anytime Matt Glover scores nine points for Penn State, it's a bonus.
-The Lions beat Kentucky 17-9 on the offensive glass. Encouraging to see the Lions maintain their early season intensity off their own misses against a squad as good as the one they played Saturday.
The Bad
-All five of Billy Oliver's shots were 3-point attempts and he made just one. As the starter at the four spot for this team, he has to start at least taking some inside shots. Penn State has plenty of people who can shoot the deep ball. It needs more presence inside to keep the defense honest.
-Trey Lewis finally hit a bit of a freshman wall after a solid start to his freshman season. His 1-9 shooting performance was ugly to say the least. It comes with the territory of being an underclassman, though.
-Penn State shot just 26.9% from the field. Hard to keep up with any team, let alone Kentucky, when you're shooting that poorly.
The Ugly
-The Lions were 4-12 from the foul line, a 33% clip. That's unacceptable. Kentucky is a tough team, but the Wildcats are no tougher than your run of the mill YMCA team while they're watching free throws. There's no reason to shoot 4-12. None.
-Senior Cammeron Woodyard wasn't much of a calming force. He finished 0-6 from the field and failed to pick his younger teammates up.