Five takeaways from Penn State basketball’s double overtime, 101-94 loss to Clemson

Penn State dropped its second game of the season Tuesday night, falling to the Clemson Tigers in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge 101-94. The loss makes Penn State 6-2 on the season and 0-1 in true road games.

Here are five takeaways from the Nittany Lions’ loss.

Strong first-half advantage

Penn State came out of the gates strong Tuesday night, trailing for only 24 seconds during the first 20 minutes of action. The Nittany Lions were able to generate good offense how they usually do — by moving the ball and getting the defense in rotation and out of sorts. Seth Lundy was the team’s leading scorer in the half with 10 points and had an important bucket from deep.

The shot clock was winding down and the Nittany Lions did not have much off ball movement, so Lundy rose up and drained a 3-pointer in his defender’s face. His size and length allow him to take those kinds of threes and gives the team a look that will almost always be open.

Slowing down Hunter early

Chase Hunter entered the game as Clemson’s leading scorer with 16.6 points per game, but could not get going early against the Nittany Lions. He was held scoreless in the first half on five shot attempts, in large part because of Penn State’s ability to cut off driving lanes and make life difficult for him.

Hunter was unable to get clean shots off against the Nittany Lions and saw more pressure than he was comfortable with early on. It helps that Penn State has several different perimeter players who can slow him down, but the collective effort of the defense was what held him in check during the first half.

Defense keeps it close in second half

The Nittany Lions gave up their lead to the Tigers and the game had a chance to get out of hand, but Penn State’s defense prevented that from happening. The Nittany Lions stiffened up on the interior, allowing them to go on a 7-0 run to tie the game back up at 58 after being down 58-51.

Seth Lundy and Myles Dread were tasked with guarding the Tigers’ best post players in the second half and both did an admirable job. Yes, they were beaten at times, but that’s to be expected when you’re at a height disadvantage. Both did enough to keep the game close and gave the Nittany Lions a chance to win Tuesday night’s game.

Free throws extend the game

Penn State rarely gets to the free throw line, with a free throw rate of 16.2% entering the game, but the Nittany Lions lived there down the stretch of the matchup. They made eight of them in the final six minutes of regulation while the Tigers missed crucial ones to allow Penn State to close the lead.

Camren Wynter, who hasn’t assimilated into the offense as well as Andrew Funk, had a big night in large part because of his ability to get to the line. He finished with 26 points, including 11-of-12 shooting from the free throw stripe in the contest. That includes two with 12 seconds left that made it a two-point game and opened the door for Funk to make a 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds on the clock and send it into overtime.

Lack of offense dooms Nittany Lions

Penn State was playing well in the first overtime on offense, but could not carry it until the end of the second overtime. The Nittany Lions struggled to get their shots to fall and that ultimately sealed their fate. Clemson was able to hit its difficult looks but Penn State couldn’t do the same in the second extra period.

The game was tied at 88 with just under 2.5 minutes left, but a 6-0 Clemson run all but ended the game. The Tigers put the Nittany Lions in a difficult spot when they had the ball and forced a crucial turnover with their lead at four that extended it to six and ended Penn State’s chances of coming back.