Both Penn State and Sacred Heart are hoping to put forth better defensive performances Saturday when the teams meet in University Park, Pa.
The Nittany Lions (6-1) bounced back nicely from their first defeat with a 96-87 home win over Boston University on Tuesday.
The positives included a strong game from Josh Reed (17 points, eight rebounds) and an impressive offensive effort overall, as the team shot 57.7% from the floor and 42.1% from 3-point range.
On the downside, Penn State was unable to put away Boston University despite its sizzling offensive performance. The Terriers shot 57.4% from the floor and 47.1% from 3-point land as they hung with the Nittany Lions until the very end.
“We’ve got a long way to go with this young team, with our defense,” Nittany Lions coach Mike Rhoades said. “We’ll get there. We’ll get there. So it might kill me, but we’ll figure it out.”
Sacred Heart (2-4) has plenty of defensive issues of its own. The Pioneers surrendered a game-tying 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining in regulation and a game-winning dunk with two seconds left in overtime of Monday’s 108-106 loss to Central Connecticut State.
Sacred Heart allowed the Blue Devils to shoot 61.3% from the field and 7 of 16 (43.8%) from 3-point range in the close defeat. It was a familiar script for the Pioneers, who have faced two notable programs this season — Duquesne and Villanova — and allowed each to score more than 90 points.
“We’ve got to find a way to get some stops,” Sacred Heart coach Anthony Latina said. “We couldn’t stop them. When we needed key stops, we couldn’t get them.”
Anquan Hill, who scored a career-high 34 points against Central Connecticut State, leads the Pioneers in scoring (18.7) and rebounding (7.2).
The Nittany Lions have four players averaging double-digit points, led by Kayden Mingo (14.4) and Melih Tunca (14.1).
–Field Level Media
