SB Nation Pittsburgh - Penn State vs. Kentucky: Wildcats Crush Nittany Lionshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48827/pitt-fv.png2011-11-19T14:29:19-05:00http://pittsburgh.sbnation.com/rss/stream/23376172011-11-19T14:29:19-05:002011-11-19T14:29:19-05:00Penn State vs. Kentucky: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly For The Nittany Lions
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<p>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.</p>
<p><b>The Good</b></p>
<p>-While most of his teammates wilted under the pressure of facing a top-5 team, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145926/ross-travis">Ross Travis</a> 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. </p>
<p>-<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/124150/jonathan-graham">Jonathan Graham's</a> 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.</p>
<p>-Anytime <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145922/matt-glover">Matt Glover</a> scores nine points for Penn State, it's a bonus.</p>
<p>-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.</p>
<p><b>The Bad</b></p>
<p>-All five of <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/52375/billy-oliver">Billy Oliver's</a> 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.</p>
<p>-<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145921/trey-lewis">Trey Lewis</a> 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.</p>
<p>-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.</p>
<p><b>The Ugly</b></p>
<p>-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.</p>
<p>-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.</p>
https://pittsburgh.sbnation.com/penn-st-nittany-lions/2011/11/19/2573742/penn-state-vs-kentucky-basketball-jonathan-graham-billy-oliverFTG18552011-11-19T14:11:29-05:002011-11-19T14:11:29-05:00Penn State vs. Kentucky: Nittany Lions Crushed, 85-47
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<p>The second half wasn't quite as ugly for Penn State as the first half was, but the Nittany Lions still lost big, 85-47 against No. 2 ranked Kentucky on Saturday afternoon at the Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic in Uncasville, Conn.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/123771/doron-lamb">Doron Lamb</a> led the Wildcats with 26 points, five rebounds and two assists. <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145570/kyle-wiltjer">Kyle Wiltjer</a> added 19 points and three boards while Terrence Jones posted a 15-point, 9-rebound and 4-assist line.</p>
<p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/99917/tim-frazier">Tim Frazier</a> was the big scorer for the Lions, finishing with 11 points and notching seven assists. He was just 4-14 shooting from the field and missed six of his nine rebounds. Freshman <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145926/ross-travis">Ross Travis</a> had the best game of his young career, though, just missing a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds.</p>
<p>Penn State will face the loser of Old Dominion and South Florida tomorrow before heading home to Happy Valley. More on this game later here at SB Nation Pittsburgh.</p>
https://pittsburgh.sbnation.com/penn-st-nittany-lions/2011/11/19/2573724/penn-state-vs-kentucky-basketball-doron-lamb-terrence-jones-tim-frazierFTG18552011-11-19T13:06:32-05:002011-11-19T13:06:32-05:00Penn State Vs. Kentucky: Wildcats Pull Away Early, Lead 47-15 At Halftime
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<p>The Penn State Nittany Lions were looking to pull a huge upset against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/teams/kentucky-wildcats">Kentucky Wildcats</a>, but the Wildcats put the squash on that plan early. Kentucky jumped out to an early 5-0 lead but the Nittany Lions sunk a few baskets, but the Wildcats were just too much for Penn State to handle.</p>
<p>Kentucky guard <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/123771/doron-lamb">Doron Lamb</a> was just too much to stop in the first half. He seemingly scored whenever he wanted to, putting up 17 points before halftime. He was 2 for 3 from three point range. The Lions were pretty much put away early on when Kentucky went on a 21-3 run to head into the locker room at halftime. The Nittany Lions can just hope to hang on and make the score respectable in the second half.</p>
<p><i>For more on the Nittany Lions basketball team, visit SB Nation's <a href="http://www.blackshoediaries.com" target="_blank">Penn State blog Black Shoe Diaries</a>. For more on the Kentucky Wildcats, visit SB Nation's <a href="http://www.seaofblue.com" target="_blank">Kentucky blog A Sea of Blue</a>.</i></p>
https://pittsburgh.sbnation.com/penn-st-nittany-lions/2011/11/19/2573585/penn-state-vs-kentucky-wildcats-pull-away-early-lead-47-15-at-halftimeAlfie Crow2011-11-19T02:57:07-05:002011-11-19T02:57:07-05:00Penn State vs. Kentucky: Nittany Lions Seek Big Upset
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<p>Penn State stares down No. 2 Kentucky in Connecticut. </p> <p>For a team of which little is expected, Penn State's relatively easy 3-0 start with comfortable wins against Hartford, Radford and Long Island has offered fans a source of cautious optimism in these trying times on campus. The intensity kicks up a notch for the Nittany Lions on Saturday, however, as they take on No. 2-ranked Kentucky in the Hall of Fame Tip-off Tournament at Uncasville, Connecticut's Mohegan Sun Arena looking to measure themselves against one of the nation's best. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.com.</p>
<p>Given Penn State's relative inexperience and Kentucky's seemingly overwhelming skill and athleticism, it's hard to see the Lions making a game of this for 40 minutes. That said, as the team prepares for the meat of its non-conference schedule with games against Boston College, Mississippi and Duquesne in the not-so-distant future, this matchup should give coach Pat Chambers a good idea of where the team stands and where it has to improve to finish the intersectional slate strong.</p>
<p>Here are some things to watch for.</p>
<p><b>When Penn State has the ball...</b></p>
<p>-Pushing the tempo has worked well for Penn State in the first few games of the season, and Chambers has said he likes to keep the game at a pace that best suits point guard <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/99917/tim-frazier" class="sbn-auto-link">Tim Frazier's</a> speed and quickness. Forcing a track meet with Kentucky, however, a team with athletes as dangerous as Frazier at every position, probably isn't a great idea. Look for Chambers' offense to take its foot off the gas in transition a bit in this one.</p>
<p>-For Penn State to have any chance, it needs to work the ball inside more than it has early in the season. Heaving up 25+ 3-pointers per game, as the Lions have in their past couple of games, isn't a big deal against the offensively challenged teams Penn State has played to this point. Against a team like Kentucky that will score its share of points, however, the Lions need to make the absolute most of every possession, and that means finding better shots than some of the contested triples they've chucked up against Radford and Long Island.</p>
<p>-The Lions' secondary scorers must establish themselves early, or the Wildcats will collapse on Tim Frazier and squeeze the life out of Penn State's offense. <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/52375/billy-oliver" class="sbn-auto-link">Billy Oliver</a>, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/52374/cammeron-woodyard" class="sbn-auto-link">Cammeron Woodyard</a> and upstart <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-basketball/players/145921/trey-lewis" class="sbn-auto-link">Trey Lewis</a> will all be tasked with forcing Kentucky to respect their offensive games to keep the floor clear for Frazier to do some real damage.</p>
<p><b>When Kentucky has the ball</b></p>
<p>-With five Wildcat scorers averaging double figures on the young season, it's hard to say the Lions can key on any one player defensively and hope to have success. For that reason, transition defense will be key. Any and all of the players on Kentucky's roster are dangerous, so a solid team effort will be requited to slow the 'cats down.</p>
<p>-While talented, Kentucky is very young and could be prone to some mental lapses. Penn State has made the most of opponents' mistakes to this point, forcing a large volume of turnovers in the early going, so creating extra opportunities would be a real plus for the Lions in this one.</p>
<p>-The other side of the "extra opportunities" coin says the Lions cannot give a team as talented as Kentucky bonus chances at scoring. Defensive rebounding is vital in keeping the Wildcats' to the absolute minimum number of scoring chances.</p>
<p><b>Overall</b></p>
<p>As mentioned before, those hoping for an upset here will probably be pretty disappointed. Kentucky is just too good and Penn State simply too young an inexperienced to expect anything more than a comfortable Wildcats win. There are a lot of ways the Lions could use a game like this to build on for the rest of the season, however, so expect the players to give it their all to see just where they stand at this early point in the season.</p>
https://pittsburgh.sbnation.com/penn-st-nittany-lions/2011/11/19/2572961/penn-state-vs-kentucky-wildcats-basketball-pat-chambers-tim-frazierFTG1855