Penn State basketball: Mike Rhoades era starts in dominance

Mike Rhoades and the Penn State basketball team earned win No. 1 in commanding fashion Monday, beating Delaware State 79-45. It was a dominating defensive performance from the Nittany Lions. While it wasn’t always pretty on offense, a few players propelled Penn State to the win with big nights. 

What did we learn from game one of the Mike Rhoades era in Happy Valley? Here are some quick takeaways from Monday night’s win.

Penn State defense was stifling

This game was never really in question. The Nittany Lions jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Penn State’s swarming defense forced 23 turnovers and made life difficult for the Hornets all night. As a team, the Nittany Lions held Delaware State to 29% from the field and 6% from deep.

The Hornets just could not handle the pressure and half-court traps the Nittany Lions threw at them, leading to many quick and sloppy offensive possessions. Delaware State was led by Corey Perkins, who scored 9 points on 4-7 shooting.

The offense still needs some work

For Penn State, the offense was a bit up and down. As a team, the Nittany Lions shot 49% from the field and made 12 threes on 38% shooting.

This is a team full of transfers that haven’t played together much, and you can tell. Penn State basketball finished with 21 turnovers, and the offense just looked a bit out of sync all night.

Surprisingly, Penn State got beat on the boards, losing the rebound battle 45 to 44. It did not hurt them much in this one, but it clearly will be something to monitor as the season continues.

Mike Rhoades is still trying to figure out his rotation

Mike Rhoades seems to still be in the experimental portion of his lineup construction. Even with no Puff Johnson or Favour Aire, 10 players were in the regular rotation for the Nittany Lions.

There was a lot of mixing and matching with the lineups as well. Some featured as many as 4 guards, while others had no true center. It’s clear that with so many new faces and a new coach, the early part of this year is at least going to be partly used to figure out what works and what doesn’t. 

Familar faces shine on a roster of new names

In a team stocked with a bunch of new faces, the stars Monday night were a couple of players Penn State basketball fans are already familiar with.

Sophomore guard Kanye Clary led the Nittany Lions with 22 points on 7-11 shooting from the field and 1-2 shooting from deep. He lived up to the offseason hype in this one, getting to his spots with quick changes of pace and living near the rim. Clary is going to be one of the top players on this team, and he played like it in this first game.

Fellow sophomore and returner Jameel Brown also had a breakout game for the Nittany Lions. He scored 20 on 7-9 shooting from the field and 6-8 shooting from deep. Brown was on fire from deep, and while the shooting looked great, it went beyond that. You aren’t gonna consistently make 6 threes a night, so it’s important to look at the process. Brown’s process was fantastic. He consistently made the right reads on both ends of the floor, swinging it to the open man and switching effortlessly on defense. Brown added a steal and a block on the defensive end and was arguably the most consistent player on the court for Penn State basketball. 

The final word

Overall, it was just a dominant performance for Penn State basketball. While it was sloppy at times, highlighted by the turnovers and rebounds, the Nittany Lions controlled the game from the opening tip, and this win was never in danger.

Clary and Ace Baldwin bring a great balance and pace to the offense. It is going to take a bit for both to get used to more off-ball minutes, but that duo is already showing how special they could be.

The Nittany Lions brought the juice on both ends. This is going to be a very fast-paced team, and it showed Monday. Delaware State was not a huge test, but Penn State basketball was able to come out strong and put on a show in the season opener. 

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