As far as Penn State coach Mike Rhoades is concerned, victories do not equate to validation.
Rhoades is hoping to see a more complete effort from his squad Sunday when the Nittany Lions host New Haven in nonconference action in University Park, Pa.
Penn State (3-1) is coming off a 72-57 win over Mercyhurst on Thursday, but Rhoades wasn’t impressed with his team’s four-point halftime lead or its 59% free-throw shooting, among other issues.
“We were very lackluster today,” the fourth-year coach said. “We’ve got to fix it.”
Ivan Juric paced Penn State with 20 points and 15 rebounds, recording his fourth consecutive double-double to open the season. Brant Byers and Roko Prkacin added 14 points apiece.
Prkacin leads the team in scoring this season at 16.5 points per game, although Juric (16.3) isn’t far behind. Josh Reed (13.8) is looking to bounce back from his lowest-scoring performance of the season after managing just seven points against Mercyhurst.
“You want more,” Rhoades said, speaking generally about his team. “You want to see more. You’re demanding more.”
New Haven (1-2) lost its first two games against Syracuse and Rutgers before bouncing back with a 63-55 home win over Army on Tuesday.
Danny Young Jr. led the way with 18 points, while Andy Ramirez and Tim Walker chipped in eight points apiece.
Teshaun Steele shot just 2-for-10 from the field and finished with six points. He had scored 33 points combined over the first two games. Zoumana Traore also is looking to bounce back after scoring five points on 0-for-5 shooting against Army.
Despite their struggles Tuesday, Chargers coach Ted Hotaling continues to praise Steele, Traore and the team’s other returning players.
“Those guys have really set a standard for us. It hasn’t really been my job,” Hotaling said. “They’ve done such an unbelievable job of (saying to our new players), ‘This is how we do things. These are the standards.’ … We just have a lot of good people all on the same page right now.”
–Field Level Media
