Penn State 'Should Be Mad' After 0-3 Tournament, Mike Rhoades Says

The Nittany Lions struggled defensively in Florida. The Penn State coach says players went "rogue."

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. | Mike Rhoades wanted to get his Penn State men's basketball team back in the Bryce Jordan Center practice gym immediately after they returned home from Florida on Sunday night. Of course, NCAA rules wouldn’t allow that, but the idea represented Rhoades’ and his team’s frustration after going 0-3 in the ESPN Events Invitational last week. Now, the Nittany Lions' first-year coach is eager (maybe anxious, too?) to learn how Penn State’s young and transfer-filled roster reacts to the adversity.

“I hope they're really mad. They should be mad. They better be mad," Rhoades said this week. "But also, you could be upset and mad, but you gotta come in here with an open mind and a clear mind that it's all about getting better. There were times where we looked like a pretty good basketball team but not good enough to win against good teams for 40 minutes. That's the next step for this team.”

Penn State (4-3) fell first to No. 14 Texas A&M, a game in which the Nittany Lions genuinely looked like they had a chance to win before the Aggies pulled away late. The Lions then dropped contests against Butler and VCU, allowing more than 85 points in all three games. The buildup for a marquee game against Texas A&M, paired with a disappointing loss, seemed to trickle into the next two, as Rhoades, Puff Johnson and Kanye Clary indicated Tuesday.

“We were 4-0 going down there. It is a new group of players, a new group of staff that we've never experienced a loss together,” Clary said. “I think that energy, we did let it trickle over toward the games. I think it affected us in a way that was kind of negative because we weren't really at our best self. We were second-guessing ourselves.”

Johnson added Tuesday that his dad tends to tell him 99 percent of life is things you can’t control, but the 1 percent is how you respond. The North Carolina transfer, who had experience on an NCAA Tournament runner-up team, called on himself and more veteran players to pull his team through “the life of college basketball.”

"This business we're in as players and as coaches, we can't let that happen. It's on us older guys to not let that happen," Johnson said. "I put the responsibility on myself a lot just because of the fact that I've seen teams lose a lot in a row and I've seen teams win in a row. Losing can become a habit, and that's what happened this weekend. We lost one, the tough one, and then we just let that trickle over and trickle over. Like I said earlier, I put that on myself because I've seen a lot of the lows and how that could happen. I could have done a lot in the moment to try to help the team and help us stop from going on such a downhill slide in four days.”

The defensive performance — long a hallmark for Rhoades’ teams — was the biggest concern from the weekend drought. The scoring totals were alarming on the surface, but Penn State's three opponents all shot 50 percent or better. Rhoades noted rebounding as a point of emphasis heading into the tournament, and the Lions carried a -19 rebounding margin through the three games.

“We didn't stick to the foundation of our defense. The other team's going to score, we're not going to throw a shutout. But then you adjust and you have the discipline to lean on what you do,” Rhoades said. “At times, we just went — 'rogue' is the word I use with our guys. You can't go rogue because, if you go rogue, the four other guys don't know what you're doing. We had too much of that, and then when you play frustrated on defense or you think you need to make a big play on defense, you usually get out of position.

“Our defense failed us down there, game after game after game,” he added.

Interior presence was also glaring, as Penn State allowed 56 and 42 points in the paint to Texas A&M and Butler, respectively. Forward Qudus Wahab has been passable as a big to start the year, but the team is missing the presence of 6-11 Miami transfer Favour Aire, who has yet to make his Penn State debut as he deals with a broken bone in his hand. Rhoades said they have missed Aire to this point but otherwise are relatively healthy.

“We gave up a lot of paint touches and interior rebounding, allowing teams to rebound their own misses at the free-throw line and from outside shots,” Clary said. “I think if we just work on keeping people outside the paint, we'll be fine.”

Penn State hosts Bucknell on Saturday for its last non-conference matchup before starting Big Ten Conference play. The Bison are 2-6 this season in a less-than-promising start, which might be just what the doctor ordered as Penn State tries to stop its skid. Rhoades said Tuesday that Penn State has the pieces to improve, but consistency is key.

“I know what we're gonna get. I like this group,” Rhoades said. “But there's no excuses. You gotta play better to win games, and we're just not consistent enough to win the way we need to. I expect them to come in to practice today and compete, and I expect them to go after each other. I expect them to pick each other up, I expect to now have great, positive juice and work really hard.”

Kanye Clary’s health

Clary, Penn State's leading scorer, left Sunday’s game against VCU early in the first half without attempting a shot. He stayed on the bench, having the training staff attend to his arm, until late in the second half when he returned, finishing with just nine total minutes and one shot attempt.

Rhoades labeled it a “stinger” in Clary’s elbow that made him lose feeling in his arm and hand, something Rhoades had never seen before. The guard apparently had a similar thing happen in high school, and it took about two hours to return then. It was about one hour on Sunday.

Clary said he was frustrated by the injury but added Tuesday he’s feeling better. The fact he was available to talk to the media Tuesday is an additional sign that the injury should not impact his availability against Bucknell.

“I've never experienced that before, but when you coach long enough, you go through it all. So just another one for my book,” Rhoades said. “It swelled a little bit, and he just didn't have feeling in his hand and arm, so his health is more important than anything.”

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Max Ralph is a Penn State senior studying Broadcast Journalism with minors in sports studies and Japanese. He previously covered Penn State football for two years with The Daily Collegian and has reported with the Associated Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Follow him on Twitter (X) @maxralph_ and Instagram @mralph_59.

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