Penn State’s trip back to The Palestra ended with an 82-76 loss to Pitt, and the final margin was about the only part of Sunday night that felt manageable. In Game 3 of Mike Rhoades’ fourth season, the Nittany Lions showed enough cracks to make the next stretch look less like a tune-up and more like a repair job.
The loss drops Penn State to 2-1 as it heads into a softer run of games against Mercyhurst, New Haven and IU Indy. Those matchups should offer a chance to stack wins, but they also need to serve as a reset after a performance that exposed some real problems.
Ivan Juric was at the center of nearly all of it. He picked up two early fouls, spent much of the first half on the bench and finished with just 23 minutes.
Once he was out, Penn State’s frontcourt issues were impossible to miss. Backup center Tim Oboh played only two minutes, which left the Nittany Lions going small for long stretches while Pitt worked inside.
Juric still managed to be efficient when he was on the floor. He kept getting to the line, finished as the team’s leading rebounder with 13, and remained the one true rim deterrent on the roster even though neither he nor anyone else recorded a block. The takeaway was clear: he has to stay on the court, because when he does, he’s likely Penn State’s best player and easily its most important one.
Roko Prkacin’s first start brought a mix of promise and limitation. He scored 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting and hit 3 of 4 free throws, while also adding seven rebounds, two assists and two steals in 31 minutes without getting into serious foul trouble. That’s a strong line on paper, and there were plenty of good moments in it.
But the matchup also showed the edges of his game. He had one clean drive for a layup, yet most of his offense comes in transition or from the dunker spot.
When he isn’t outrunning defenders or winning with athleticism near the rim, his influence shrinks. His lack of shooting only makes things tighter for Penn State’s offense when he shares the floor with Juric.
Thomas Allard had an even rougher night. After making the jump from D-II to Power Conference basketball, he looked overwhelmed in his first game against that level of competition.
He’s supposed to provide size and shooting on the wing, but the pace clearly bothered him, and it showed in his shot. He went 0-for-3 from deep, grabbed one rebound and picked up four fouls in 17 minutes.
There’s a real possibility he won’t be playable against teams with real athletes, and Pitt is nowhere near the most athletic opponent Penn State will face.
That leaves Rhoades with a roster problem that Sunday night made hard to ignore. This isn’t entirely on him, since he hasn’t had much to work with and recruiting to Happy Valley is never simple. Even so, a roster built around mid-major all-stars and a few international imports is not enough for the Big Ten.
Rhoades tried to add size and toughness with a group of 3-and-D wings to create a steadier floor in conference play, but the team still doesn’t have enough playmaking. And the wings he brought in haven’t delivered the switchable defense he seemed to want, largely because most of them aren’t Big Ten athletes.
In Other News...
Penn State Fans Finally Got An Encouraging Jack Ham Update
Jack Hams absence from the Penn State-Washington buildup was felt well beyond the broadcast booth, because the Penn State legend has long been one of the most recognizable voices attached to the program. Ahead of the game in Seattle, Ham experienced a medical emergency and was treated at the University of Washington Medical Center, prompting immediate concern from around the Penn State community.
Penn State athletics later confirmed that Ham is in stable condition, a reassuring development after a tense stretch for fans and those close to the program. Coach Matt Campbell and the broadcasters also offered updates and support for Ham and his family, underscoring how quickly the situation drew attention from both the football side and the radio side of Penn State life. [Read more 🡒]
Penn States Big Ten Position Suddenly Feels More Complicated
Week 10 did not give the Big Ten much help in sorting itself out. With Ohio State and Oregon both working through backup quarterbacks, and several league powers already dealing with injuries at the games most important position, the conferences pecking order has become harder to read than it looked a month ago. Even the teams that entered the year with the brightest expectations, including Ohio State, Indiana and Michigan, have had to navigate the ripple effects of quarterback uncertainty.
For Penn State, that makes the margin for error feel even thinner as the season heads into its late stretch. The Nittany Lions are still part of the conversation near the top of the league, but the recent shakeups around them have changed the backdrop of that race and made every result carry a little more weight. Add in the coaching changes and the shifting outlooks across the conference, and the Big Ten suddenly looks less like a clean hierarchy and more like a week-to-week argument. [Read more 🡒]
Penn State Suddenly Has A Bigger Question Than Bowl Eligibility
Penn State is still sitting one win away from bowl eligibility, and the bowl chatter has already started to swirl around a team that has spent much of the fall in the middle of the pack. At 5-4, the Nittany Lions are being slotted by different outlets into a range of possible destinations, from the Dukes Mayo Bowl and Music City Bowl to the Cactus Bowl, Fenway Bowl and First Responder Bowl, which is a reminder that there is still plenty left to sort out before anyone starts packing bags.
ESPNs Football Power Index gives Penn State a 62.6 percent chance to win out the rest of the regular season and a 99.7 percent chance to get to six wins, so the postseason path looks clear enough on paper. The bigger question is what kind of finish the Nittany Lions can put together once they get there, because for a program with this profile, simply becoming bowl-eligible is only part of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]