2023-2024 Penn State men's basketball report card: vs. Georgia Tech

The Nittany Lions lost a heartbreaker on Saturday to Georgia Tech, coming up just short in overtime 82-81.

Penn State is now 5-6 on the season, with its last three games going down to the wire.

Despite a losing record, the blue and white showed signs of improvement against the Yellow Jackets.

Here are the game grades for Penn State in their loss:

Offense: A-

The Nittany Lions put up over 80 points for the third time this season, with Kanye Clary leading all scorers with 23 points.

Other double-digit scorers included Ace Baldwin Jr., Puff Johnson and D’Marco Dunn, making this a total team effort.

One major weakness on offense all season has been the three-point shooting, but that was not the case for Penn State on Saturday.

The blue and white drilled a season-high 12 three-pointers, which fueled the team especially late in the game.

There were stretches throughout the game where the offense would get stale and players would resort to isolation scoring, but that is just part of the game.

Head coach Mike Rhoades would consistently steer his team back to an offense focused more on driving and ball movement, creating more opportunities for the shooters beyond the arc.

It was a heartbreaking defeat, but the offense presented reasons to be optimistic for the future.

Defense: B-

The defense was more of a mixed performance compared to the offense, with some great moments on that end of the court, but also definitely some struggles.

On the one hand, the Nittany Lions were able to force numerous turnovers late in the game which swung the momentum in their favor and led to the comeback.

On the other hand, Penn State got decimated on the boards, giving up 20 offensive rebounds to Georgia Tech while only hauling in 18 defensive rebounds of their own.

Qudus Wahab as the starting center started the season off strong, but rebounding against taller and more physical teams has been a major issue for him.

Additionally, with Favour Aire still out with an injury, the blue and white are still searching for bodies on the bench who can come in for Wahab and hold down the paint.

The positives on defense come from the pressure created and turnovers forced by Baldwin Jr. and company.

Baldwin Jr. has proven his ability on the defensive end numerous times this season, but his late-game heroics on that side of the ball were the reason why the game even went to overtime.

He led the team with four steals, and the team as a whole finished with 13 steals.

Defensive rebounding is the Achilles heel for the squad, but the Nittany Lions proved once again that in crucial moments, the defense can force turnovers and make winning plays.

Coaching: B+

Even though Penn State received a loss, it was still an impressive performance from the team, and that is in large part due to the coaching.

The team was coming off a major comeback win against Ohio State, but the Nittany Lions still looked disciplined and had energy throughout the game against the Yellow Jackets.

Rhoades has displayed time and time again that the minutes for each player will vary, sticking with the hot hand for that specific game.

That was once again the case as Rhoades looked to Dunn and Johnson late in the game, over some normal candidates such as Zach Hicks and Nick Kern Jr.

This type of coaching proves to the players that if they play well, they can earn their minutes on the court.

Additionally, the blue and white late in regulation were poised and Rhoades did all he could to put the team in a situation to win.

Christopher Reynolds is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email him at clr5971@psu.edu.