Mike Rhoades managing ‘peaks and valleys’ in year one at Penn State

The month of January has brought mixed results for Penn State basketball. The Nittany Lions pulled off the program’s biggest upset since 2019 last week, but bookended it with three losses of 12 or more on the road and a double-digit blown lead at home. After Penn State’s most recent 79-67 loss to Ohio State, Mike Rhoades discussed the “peaks and valleys” of his first year leading the Nittany Lions, and how his program must learn from these experiences to become a consistent competitor in the Big Ten moving forward.

A turbulent January for Penn State basketball

On both ends of the spectrum, it’s been an emotionally charged month of basketball for Penn State. With Big Ten play starting in earnest, new head coach Mike Rhoades is getting a taste of the conference for the first time.

The results, well, they’ve been mixed, at best. The Nittany Lions started January with a 31-point loss to Michigan State in East Lansing. Three days later, Penn State erased a 14-point deficit to beat Michigan at the Palestra in Philadelphia. But then the Lions had the tables turned on themselves, blowing a double-digit lead to Northwestern in the Bryce Jordan Center.

The following week brought diametrical performances against two of the best teams in the nation. Penn State basketball suffered a 17-point loss to top-ranked Purdue on the road before beating its highest-ranked opponent since 2019 with an upset of No. 11 Wisconsin last Tuesday.

However, those hoping the momentum from the defining win of the young Mike Rhoades era would carry over to the weekend were sorely disappointed. Ohio State started Saturday’s game on a 16-0 run, and there was no looking back from there. The Buckeyes led by as many as 23 points on the afternoon. Although the Nittany Lions were able to cut the deficit to single digits late, what resulted was a convincing 79-67 defeat.

After the loss, Mike Rhoades highlighted the dynamics of a turbulent January, particularly over the last week.

“There were, I said, peaks and valleys,” Rhoades expressed. “Especially as a first-year coach, you’re trying to establish things. There are lots of peaks and valleys. The other day, we were on the peak…Especially offensively, we were humming. Today, we weren’t. We were standing around; the ball got stuck a lot, and we took a lot of bad twos. And people are going to jump on you and take advantage of you. Ohio State did that today.”

“It’s got to hurt us”

Through 19 games, a clear trend has emerged for this Penn State basketball team. The Nittany Lions can typically take care of business at home, sporting a 9-2 record, including the “home” contest at the Palestra on January 7.

But on the road, it’s a much different story. Penn State is a combined 0-8 at road and neutral sites this season. Through three full months of play, the Nittany Lions have yet to win a game outside of Pennsylvania.

“Playing on the road in college basketball — winning on the road in college basketball — is the hardest thing to do,” Rhoades said Saturday. “And you’re doing it against really good programs [in the Big Ten], good players, and really good coaches. It’s hard. It’s the same; people come to our place and know they got their hands full even though it’s our first year, and we have this big transition. The best team in the league, we beat in our place, scored 87 points. And then you’d think we’d go on the road and bring the mo-jo with us, and it’s not there. Welcome to being on the road in the Big Ten.”

Looking ahead, Penn State basketball has 12 games remaining this season — evenly split home and away. A bid for any postseason play is looking increasingly unlikely for the Nittany Lions, given the current trajectory.

But for a turnaround to happen, whether now or in the future under Mike Rhoades, hard lessons must be learned about this first year in the new era of Penn State basketball.

“We’re learning the hard way,” Rhoades said. “All this stuff has to hurt us, has to bother us. It’s got to be singed into our memories so we can learn. Because if you want to be a better team moving forward in the Big Ten, you have to find ways to go on the road and win.”

Penn State basketball returns to action Saturday night at home against Minnesota. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.

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