Turnovers; free throws only needed for Penn State’s win against Morehead State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State entered this season ranked No. 96 in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.

The defense did shine for the Nittany Lions in their 74-51 win over the Morehead State Eagles Friday night. The team allowed a 38% clip from the field and a 22% clip from downtown.

But, it was the turnover department that shined for the blue and white. After coming off a 26-turnover night against Mercer, Morehead State followed that up with 29 turnovers against the Nittany Lions.

Two of those turnovers were 10-second violations due to the full-court press Penn State put on the Eagles. The small things can give the Nittany Lions a boost.

“That all contributes to the mentality of our presses,” head coach Mike Rhoades said. “I like to say you’re just chipping away, and sometimes you get a big steal and everybody goes crazy and then a dunk.”

On the flip side, the opposition finds itself off schedule. “That just messes up people’s plan of attack,” Rhoades said.

For Ace Baldwin Jr., it was a sticking point to follow his coach to Happy Valley and create chaos on the defensive end. The senior point guard had two steals of his own tonight, one that led to an easy fastbreak layup.

“That’s exactly why we came here,” Baldwin Jr. said. “Our defense, I think I play a big part because defense also leads to championships, and as you see, defense leads to us scoring.”

The Nittany Lions added 32 points off of those 29 turnovers. To put that into perspective, Morehead State had two points off eight turnovers.

Being able to post 32 points off of those turnovers would mean a good shooting night most times, but not for Penn State. They finished the game shooting 29.7% from the floor and 24% from beyond the arc.

However, the Nittany Lions had one saving grace offensively: the free-throw line. Off 27 fouls committed by the Eagles, Penn State sank 30 of 38 free throws.

“We work on it in practice,” Baldwin Jr. said. “Coach don’t give us no fouls in practice, and like he said, we have to fight adversity.”

With a physical conference like the Big Ten, drawing fouls is a must to stay in games. Rhoades understands that finishing and fighting through contact can be useful.

“My teams have always drawn a lot of fouls, because we really try to play inside out,” Rhoades said. “Part of our mentality is putting so much pressure on the defense that they collapse, kick it out for threes…We really talk about drawing fouls and scoring and punishing people at the rim.”

Those two factors alone have helped the Nittany Lions get to a 4-0 start, especially with a homestand that saw three-20+ point blowouts. The credit may be the defense that is ahead of schedule.

“One thing that I’m very proud of so far, to this date, is our half-court defense is better than I thought it was,” Rhoades said. “It’s not where I want it to be, but it’s a lot better than I thought it was going to be at this point.”

Penn State will get six days of rest before heading to Kissimmee, Fla., to take on No. 13 Texas A&M in the ESPN Events Invitational on Thanksgiving Day.

Jonathan Draeger is a fourth-year broadcast journalism major. To contact him, email jonathan.r.draeger43@gmail.com.