Penn State shooting goes cold in 101-94 2OT loss at Clemson

Penn State traveled to Clemson on Tuesday evening as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, looking to improve to 7-1 for the 2022-23 season. Pulling off a desperate comeback in regulation, after 50 minutes of basketball, the Nittany Lions fell short of that goal.

A winding, dramatic, roller coaster of a game, Penn State found itself on the losing end of a 101-94 decision in two overtimes. With the loss, Penn State heads into an eight-day break before facing Michigan State at the start of a two-game set next Wednesday, Dec. 7, at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Before moving on to the Spartans, though, here is a look at what put Penn State in the loss column for the second time this season, to its second ACC opponent:

How it happened

Riding a hot start from Cam Wynter, Penn State jumped out to a 12-3 lead in the first five minutes of the game while Clemson struggled to find its footing. A good-not-great shooting team from beyond the arc, Clemson got going with a pair of Alex Hemenway makes from deep, quickly turning the Nittany Lions’ early lead into a steady back-and-forth.

Still, paced by six 3-point makes of Penn State’s own in the first half, what’d been a 21-21 game at the 6:35 mark of the first half extended to the Nittany Lions’ largest advantage of the game, 35-25, off of a Jalen Pickett bucket with 2:23 to play. Heading to the locker room ahead 35-29 after two late baskets for the hosts, Penn State was relying on its formula of made 3-pointers, solid defense, and rebounding.

It wouldn’t last. 

Second-half struggles

Bludgeoned by a 13-2 run for the Tigers out of the break, Penn State’s lead evolved into a battle as injured center P.J. Hall asserted himself in the paint, following up on his back-to-back made 3-pointers in the first half. 

Meanwhile, Penn State struggled to find the open looks it utilized in the first half as the Tigers increasingly employed a more physical defensive effort, despite a foul imbalance that saw a lopsided 6-1 start to the second half in team fouls.

“I thought they got a little more physical in the second half. We didn’t handle it very well. We didn’t get into normal shots,” Shrewsberry said. “But they also tried to deny a little bit more where we had to get to the basket. So some of the shots that we did get, some of those threes were a little rushed. 

“Credit to them for coming out in the second half with a lot of fire and taking away what we wanted to do, forcing us to try and win in a different way.”

Locked in a tight battle throughout the second half, eliminating Clemson’s 56-48 lead with 7:22 to play down to a tie on a Seth Lundy 3-point make at the 4:35 mark, the Nittany Lions would have to do it again. Stymied by Hunter Tyson, who knocked down two 3-pointers and five free throws in the final 4:16, Penn State still fought back from a 69-62 deficit with 51 seconds to play. 

Turning to Jalen Pickett, a series of traded trips to the free throw line in which Penn State made both and Clemson suffered misses, a final inbounds in regulation cleared Andrew Funk for a banked-in 3-pointer on the wing to send the game into overtime, 71-71, with just five seconds to play.

‘Winning’ in overtime

For as much as was demanded of the Nittany Lions to force the game into overtime, Clemson didn’t fade. Instead, P.J. Hall went to work, earning a bucket right out of the break, followed shortly thereafter by a made 3 for Chase Hunter. 

Paced by free throws from Wynter, who finished with a game-high 26 points, Penn State still didn’t relent. Managing to bite back the Clemson lead, a Jalen Pickett turnaround in the paint finally gave Penn State a 79-78 advantage with 2:30 to play in the extra frame. 

Boosting that score to 81-79 on another Pickett make with 1:40 to play, a Wynter runner with 52 seconds to play couldn’t connect. The result set up an odd sequence in which a clock operation error on Clemson’s possession sent both teams to the bench. And while Tyson couldn’t connect on a 3-point look out of the break, possession remained with Clemson, who then picked off Kebba Njie for a personal foul on the inbounds play.

Sending Hall to the free throw line, the center made both, backed by a Wynter basket with 21 seconds to play before Hall again worked Njie, this time to even the score at 83-83 to send it into a second overtime.

“They made some big shots, Hunter Tyson, PJ Hall, Hemenway,” Shrewsberry said. “That’s what older guys do, is they make tough shots in clutch moments, and that’s what they get from those guys.

The final blow

That sentiment proved especially true in the second overtime. Again turning to Hemenway out of the gates, who added another 3-pointer to his 15 points for the game, the Tigers established an 86-83 advantage. And though Penn State would respond, first getting Funk his 14th point, followed by another Lundy 3-pointer with 2:51 to play, Clemson’s ensuing 6-0 run, marked by a block at the basket on Njie and run-out on the other end, proved too much for Penn State to overcome. 

Though Wynter cut into the deficit at the free throw line to make it a 94-90 game, Tyson, Ben Middlebrooks, and Hemenway closed out the game for Clemson at the free throw line. 

“You knew what was coming,” They’re gonna try and beat us up in the paint, throw the ball in the paint. They made tough shots,” Shrewsberry said. “PJ Hall is walled up, a body in between your basket, that’s what an All-ACC guy does. It doesn’t matter if he’s hurt, doesn’t matter if he’s coming back from an injury. He makes shots at the end of the game. Hunter Thompson is the same way. Turnarounds at the end of the shot clock, with a contest. Those are the ones that kind of get you.”

Takeaways

Absent from Penn State’s offensive equation was Myles Dread, who was blanked on the scoring sheet. Finishing 0-of-6 from deep, he wasn’t the only one to struggle.

Pickett, who still juiced out 23 points in the losing effort, also missed each of his seven 3-point attempts for the game. Combined, the shooting struggles left Penn State connecting on just 11-of-36 3-point shots for the game. At 30.6 percent, it was the Nittany Lions’ worst 3-point shooting performance of the season.